Psychology - The DESK Magazine

The anesthetization of beauty

They were all over the internet: Images of deep space, revealing thousands of distant galaxies, twinkling in vivid detail. They were beautiful. Full-spectrum color. Never seen before – except they were.

by Tobias van Schneider

The inspiration lie

We’re always waiting for inspiration to find us. We put off creating our next piece of art, building our next product or writing our next article because we're just not feeling inspired. Any day now, inspiration will come and we can finally begin.

by Tobias van Schneider

Clear my mind: A serendipitous way to refresh your memory

Three years ago my business parter, Jason, and I sat down and started sketching out some of the early ideas for a tool we'd both been dreaming about.

by Tobias van Schneider

The business of hype

You remember the days. When you anticipated a new album like a child on Christmas Eve. Or when Disney placed their special feature films “in the vault” before reissuing them 10 years later. Or when Black Friday actually offered exclusive, valuable deals worth standing in line for.

by Tobias van Schneider

Are we all converging into the same online persona?

I can't put my finger on it, but over the last couple months there's been a feeling growing inside me. Perhaps you can call it an observation, but one I'm struggling to put into words. This article is an attempt to describe this feeling.

by Tobias van Schneider

The hack for self-discipline you learned as a child

The word discipline itself is intimidating. It implies mental toil. Manual labor. Forfeiting pleasure and immediate satisfaction for a nebulous, far-off reward. But it’s much less complicated than that.

by Tobias van Schneider

Luck is a dangerous word

I like to joke that when someone asks how you became successful, just say you got lucky. This answer satisfies everyone. It's all people expect and need to hear.

by Tobias van Schneider

The old artist couldn't sell their work. The new artist sells their soul.

Vincent van Gogh, universally considered one of the greatest artists of all time, sold just a few paintings while he was alive. He painted nearly 1,000 pieces during his life, but only found fame after his death.

by Tobias van Schneider

It’s all a game

Despite popular media that suggests otherwise, video games can significantly improve people’s lives.

by Tobias van Schneider

The slow creep of mediocrity

Open the app. Scroll. See a baby photo, a selfie paired with a poem, somebody’s dinner. Keep scrolling. See a meme. Hit like. Type LOL, face muscles unmoving. Continue to scroll: Past a latte, an ad campaign, a polished photo shoot. Past more stolen memes and recycled jokes and