Aaron Balick 🍉
@aaronbalick.com
Leading voice on how tech & culture shape the psyche. Psychotherapist | Consultant | Psych writer at GQ | Keynote speaker | Author of The Psychodynamics of Social Networking | aaronbalick.com
They should make a dating app that matches you to all the others who made the same unique guessing combinations on the NYT #connections game.
October 20, 2025 at 9:35 AM
They should make a dating app that matches you to all the others who made the same unique guessing combinations on the NYT #connections game.
Call it a schmaltzy musical - but I’m glad I grew up with this sort of messaging.
October 3, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Call it a schmaltzy musical - but I’m glad I grew up with this sort of messaging.
This is tonight’s entertainment.
First because of the world situation. Second because of connections.
First because of the world situation. Second because of connections.
October 3, 2025 at 7:23 PM
This is tonight’s entertainment.
First because of the world situation. Second because of connections.
First because of the world situation. Second because of connections.
Bordeaux is in western France.
September 22, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Bordeaux is in western France.
So excited that @poul-rohleder.bsky.social’s Oedipus book has arrived!
It opens by pointing to a popular YouTube video that shows the enduring power of and some evidence for the Oedipus Complex.
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It opens by pointing to a popular YouTube video that shows the enduring power of and some evidence for the Oedipus Complex.
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September 10, 2025 at 3:37 PM
So excited that @poul-rohleder.bsky.social’s Oedipus book has arrived!
It opens by pointing to a popular YouTube video that shows the enduring power of and some evidence for the Oedipus Complex.
1/2
It opens by pointing to a popular YouTube video that shows the enduring power of and some evidence for the Oedipus Complex.
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AI sycophancy is wired into LLMs to keep you coming back for more. What are the psychological implications?
Subscribe now and get the first of a series of articles staring Monday with:
AI Therapy and Mental Health Part One: What We Know, What We Fear
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Subscribe now and get the first of a series of articles staring Monday with:
AI Therapy and Mental Health Part One: What We Know, What We Fear
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
September 6, 2025 at 12:58 PM
AI sycophancy is wired into LLMs to keep you coming back for more. What are the psychological implications?
Subscribe now and get the first of a series of articles staring Monday with:
AI Therapy and Mental Health Part One: What We Know, What We Fear
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Subscribe now and get the first of a series of articles staring Monday with:
AI Therapy and Mental Health Part One: What We Know, What We Fear
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
If the horse is AI and the stable is mental health, well, the horse has already bolted. The situation is moving fast and can be utterly bewildering - but the consequences for mental health professionals and society at large are too important to ignore.
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newsletter.aaronbalick.com
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newsletter.aaronbalick.com
September 5, 2025 at 3:46 PM
If the horse is AI and the stable is mental health, well, the horse has already bolted. The situation is moving fast and can be utterly bewildering - but the consequences for mental health professionals and society at large are too important to ignore.
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newsletter.aaronbalick.com
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newsletter.aaronbalick.com
Did you know that Carl Jung’s PhD research was on séances? How did his interest in the occult and Eastern mysticism inform his theories?
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
September 2, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Did you know that Carl Jung’s PhD research was on séances? How did his interest in the occult and Eastern mysticism inform his theories?
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
AKA: Reduce your wonderful complexity to a reductive caricature.
More on this here: Forget ‘extroverts’ and ‘introverts’, there's a new way to categorise ourselves in town www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/a-ne...
More on this here: Forget ‘extroverts’ and ‘introverts’, there's a new way to categorise ourselves in town www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/a-ne...
August 30, 2025 at 6:24 PM
AKA: Reduce your wonderful complexity to a reductive caricature.
More on this here: Forget ‘extroverts’ and ‘introverts’, there's a new way to categorise ourselves in town www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/a-ne...
More on this here: Forget ‘extroverts’ and ‘introverts’, there's a new way to categorise ourselves in town www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/a-ne...
Some Friday evenings I don’t know whether I watch a movie because I want to watch a movie, or I watch a movie so I can have popcorn.
That I could make a big bowl of popcorn without an accompanying movie is, for some reason, unthinkable.
That I could make a big bowl of popcorn without an accompanying movie is, for some reason, unthinkable.
August 29, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Some Friday evenings I don’t know whether I watch a movie because I want to watch a movie, or I watch a movie so I can have popcorn.
That I could make a big bowl of popcorn without an accompanying movie is, for some reason, unthinkable.
That I could make a big bowl of popcorn without an accompanying movie is, for some reason, unthinkable.
The one fashion trend I’ve been ahead of.
Since 1988.
Since 1988.
August 21, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The one fashion trend I’ve been ahead of.
Since 1988.
Since 1988.
Shocking but not surprising.
A chart in the FT Weekend showing a steep decline in conscientiousness & uptick in neuroticism (big 5 measure) over the past decade (US study).
A chart in the FT Weekend showing a steep decline in conscientiousness & uptick in neuroticism (big 5 measure) over the past decade (US study).
August 9, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Shocking but not surprising.
A chart in the FT Weekend showing a steep decline in conscientiousness & uptick in neuroticism (big 5 measure) over the past decade (US study).
A chart in the FT Weekend showing a steep decline in conscientiousness & uptick in neuroticism (big 5 measure) over the past decade (US study).
Just had the holy crap moment that the chief of police in the original Naked Gun is Tony Soprano’s mother.
August 4, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Just had the holy crap moment that the chief of police in the original Naked Gun is Tony Soprano’s mother.
In can’t remember when I last read a book to page 800 with still some way to go!
July 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
In can’t remember when I last read a book to page 800 with still some way to go!
A dashing young Freud at 35 years of age!
July 26, 2025 at 3:12 PM
A dashing young Freud at 35 years of age!
I want to become a writer for whom this setting is the norm rather than the exception.
July 25, 2025 at 12:02 PM
I want to become a writer for whom this setting is the norm rather than the exception.
Sunset.
Timelapse.
France.
Timelapse.
France.
July 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Sunset.
Timelapse.
France.
Timelapse.
France.
Life + Time = Crisis of Meaning
Check out my latest Substack post for the long read version of my latest GQ article “What Does Midlife Crisis Mean For Millennials” - full of extra thoughts, tips, and resources:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Check out my latest Substack post for the long read version of my latest GQ article “What Does Midlife Crisis Mean For Millennials” - full of extra thoughts, tips, and resources:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
July 22, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Life + Time = Crisis of Meaning
Check out my latest Substack post for the long read version of my latest GQ article “What Does Midlife Crisis Mean For Millennials” - full of extra thoughts, tips, and resources:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
Check out my latest Substack post for the long read version of my latest GQ article “What Does Midlife Crisis Mean For Millennials” - full of extra thoughts, tips, and resources:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
He’s so happy because he’s temporarily winning in his Oedipus Complex.
(“He” being the dog).
(“He” being the dog).
July 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
He’s so happy because he’s temporarily winning in his Oedipus Complex.
(“He” being the dog).
(“He” being the dog).
What a wonderful gift this book is. Its reimagining of Huckleberry Finn through Jim’s eyes is a master stroke - Mark Twain would be glowing if he knew.
I owe a big thanks to @percivaleverett.bsky.social who inspired me to pick up the original after 35 years. It still delivers.
I owe a big thanks to @percivaleverett.bsky.social who inspired me to pick up the original after 35 years. It still delivers.
July 8, 2025 at 7:47 PM
What a wonderful gift this book is. Its reimagining of Huckleberry Finn through Jim’s eyes is a master stroke - Mark Twain would be glowing if he knew.
I owe a big thanks to @percivaleverett.bsky.social who inspired me to pick up the original after 35 years. It still delivers.
I owe a big thanks to @percivaleverett.bsky.social who inspired me to pick up the original after 35 years. It still delivers.
The best antidote to the dopamine treadmill demanded by your phone is the oxytocin cycle demanded by your dog.
July 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The best antidote to the dopamine treadmill demanded by your phone is the oxytocin cycle demanded by your dog.
The title, which denotes an even handed analysis of the two schools, the purpose of the content is to demolish Jung.
June 29, 2025 at 6:29 PM
The title, which denotes an even handed analysis of the two schools, the purpose of the content is to demolish Jung.
I recently had a revealing exchange with ChatGPT that began with a Freudian slip and ended with a stark reminder of how AI prioritises a happy user experience over truth.
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June 27, 2025 at 2:37 PM
I recently had a revealing exchange with ChatGPT that began with a Freudian slip and ended with a stark reminder of how AI prioritises a happy user experience over truth.
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