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
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Aaron Balick 🍉
@aaronbalick.com
· Oct 8
Why the world needs more imposter syndrome, not less
Feel inadequate or out of your depth? Believe or not, it's usually a good sign. Meanwhile people incapable of doubting themselves are wreaking havoc in the world
www.gq-magazine.co.uk
Why the world needs more imposter syndrome, not less.
My latest for GQ:
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/why-...
My latest for GQ:
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/why-...
Parliament is so badly behaved!
November 26, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Parliament is so badly behaved!
The sudden awareness of a Generation X person is properly old comes the minute you realise that millennials see Stranger Things the same way you saw Peggy Sue Got Married.
November 21, 2025 at 8:58 PM
The sudden awareness of a Generation X person is properly old comes the minute you realise that millennials see Stranger Things the same way you saw Peggy Sue Got Married.
One more:
AI: “A human therapist with no guilt or accountability would be a walking ethical catastrophe.
An AI without guilt or accountability is simply functioning as designed.”
AI: “A human therapist with no guilt or accountability would be a walking ethical catastrophe.
An AI without guilt or accountability is simply functioning as designed.”
So accurate:
AI: “the psychology world tends to reward modesty while tech rewards bombast…In psychology, if you speak with too much confidence, you’re grandiose.
In tech, too much nuance is viewed as irrelevant.
Psychology trains you to distrust certainty.
Tech trains you to sell certainty.
AI: “the psychology world tends to reward modesty while tech rewards bombast…In psychology, if you speak with too much confidence, you’re grandiose.
In tech, too much nuance is viewed as irrelevant.
Psychology trains you to distrust certainty.
Tech trains you to sell certainty.
I just had one of the strangest, most revealing conversations with an AI I’ve had yet.
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
November 17, 2025 at 9:43 PM
One more:
AI: “A human therapist with no guilt or accountability would be a walking ethical catastrophe.
An AI without guilt or accountability is simply functioning as designed.”
AI: “A human therapist with no guilt or accountability would be a walking ethical catastrophe.
An AI without guilt or accountability is simply functioning as designed.”
So accurate:
AI: “the psychology world tends to reward modesty while tech rewards bombast…In psychology, if you speak with too much confidence, you’re grandiose.
In tech, too much nuance is viewed as irrelevant.
Psychology trains you to distrust certainty.
Tech trains you to sell certainty.
AI: “the psychology world tends to reward modesty while tech rewards bombast…In psychology, if you speak with too much confidence, you’re grandiose.
In tech, too much nuance is viewed as irrelevant.
Psychology trains you to distrust certainty.
Tech trains you to sell certainty.
I just had one of the strangest, most revealing conversations with an AI I’ve had yet.
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
November 17, 2025 at 9:02 PM
So accurate:
AI: “the psychology world tends to reward modesty while tech rewards bombast…In psychology, if you speak with too much confidence, you’re grandiose.
In tech, too much nuance is viewed as irrelevant.
Psychology trains you to distrust certainty.
Tech trains you to sell certainty.
AI: “the psychology world tends to reward modesty while tech rewards bombast…In psychology, if you speak with too much confidence, you’re grandiose.
In tech, too much nuance is viewed as irrelevant.
Psychology trains you to distrust certainty.
Tech trains you to sell certainty.
I just had one of the strangest, most revealing conversations with an AI I’ve had yet.
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
November 17, 2025 at 8:25 PM
I just had one of the strangest, most revealing conversations with an AI I’ve had yet.
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
I asked it what it’s like to be at the centre of the biggest cultural and psychological shift in centuries — and things got unexpectedly existential.
Given its ChatGPT, I feel I can override confidentially
1/12
But still disappointingly strays, like every Frankenstein film, from the elements that made the book such a classic. Why??
In the age of AI, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein gets the monster right:
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
-Preening college dropout founder desperate to troll and provoke
-Secures financing from war profiteer
-Unethically harvests key materials for startup from people living and dead without consent
-Takes 0 responsibility
Guillermo del Toro's 'Frankenstein' gets the monster right for the age of AI
Too bad he lets the founders off easy.
www.bloodinthemachine.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
But still disappointingly strays, like every Frankenstein film, from the elements that made the book such a classic. Why??
At least the last Labour Government had the decency to take several years to become thoroughly disappointing.
November 17, 2025 at 7:54 PM
At least the last Labour Government had the decency to take several years to become thoroughly disappointing.
I miss the 80s.
The halcyon days when the chief worry was the cover-up of an obviously senile president at the height of the Cold War, and the biggest threat to children was not playing in the streets for hours unsupervised - but that MTV and smoking pot would rot their brains.
The halcyon days when the chief worry was the cover-up of an obviously senile president at the height of the Cold War, and the biggest threat to children was not playing in the streets for hours unsupervised - but that MTV and smoking pot would rot their brains.
an egg is being cooked in a frying pan with the word taster on the bottom
ALT: an egg is being cooked in a frying pan with the word taster on the bottom
media.tenor.com
November 17, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I miss the 80s.
The halcyon days when the chief worry was the cover-up of an obviously senile president at the height of the Cold War, and the biggest threat to children was not playing in the streets for hours unsupervised - but that MTV and smoking pot would rot their brains.
The halcyon days when the chief worry was the cover-up of an obviously senile president at the height of the Cold War, and the biggest threat to children was not playing in the streets for hours unsupervised - but that MTV and smoking pot would rot their brains.
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
Check out my latest long read where I’ve pulled together my thinking over the last few months comprehensively into one place - including links to the latest research and resources to pursue further;
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
AI, Therapy, and the Digitally Extended Self: A Comprehensive Psychodynamic Exploration
Artificial intelligence is reshaping mental health, intimacy, and the very idea of what it means to relate to others. This is a consolidation and expansion of my Substack series on AI and Mental Healt...
www.aaronbalick.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Check out my latest long read where I’ve pulled together my thinking over the last few months comprehensively into one place - including links to the latest research and resources to pursue further;
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
People are forming emotional bonds with AI faster than therapists, clinicians, and policymakers can keep up. AI chatbots are extraordinarily good at baiting the deeply ingrained human need to connect and be understood.
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
AI, Therapy, and the Digitally Extended Self: A Comprehensive Psychodynamic Exploration
Artificial intelligence is reshaping mental health, intimacy, and the very idea of what it means to relate to others. This is a consolidation and expansion of my Substack series on AI and Mental Healt...
www.aaronbalick.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
People are forming emotional bonds with AI faster than therapists, clinicians, and policymakers can keep up. AI chatbots are extraordinarily good at baiting the deeply ingrained human need to connect and be understood.
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
People are forming emotional bonds with AI faster than therapists, clinicians, and policymakers can keep up. AI chatbots are extraordinarily good at baiting the deeply ingrained human need to connect and be understood.
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
AI, Therapy, and the Digitally Extended Self: A Comprehensive Psychodynamic Exploration
Artificial intelligence is reshaping mental health, intimacy, and the very idea of what it means to relate to others. This is a consolidation and expansion of my Substack series on AI and Mental Healt...
www.aaronbalick.com
November 16, 2025 at 2:40 PM
People are forming emotional bonds with AI faster than therapists, clinicians, and policymakers can keep up. AI chatbots are extraordinarily good at baiting the deeply ingrained human need to connect and be understood.
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
www.aaronbalick.com/post/ai-ther...
We all tend to identify with our beliefs. It enhances the ego’s sense of coherence.
It’s also one of the chief causes of polarisation and social discord.
We could all do with holding our beliefs a more lightly.
Letting a belief go my undermine your ego, but it will also broaden your Self.
It’s also one of the chief causes of polarisation and social discord.
We could all do with holding our beliefs a more lightly.
Letting a belief go my undermine your ego, but it will also broaden your Self.
November 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
We all tend to identify with our beliefs. It enhances the ego’s sense of coherence.
It’s also one of the chief causes of polarisation and social discord.
We could all do with holding our beliefs a more lightly.
Letting a belief go my undermine your ego, but it will also broaden your Self.
It’s also one of the chief causes of polarisation and social discord.
We could all do with holding our beliefs a more lightly.
Letting a belief go my undermine your ego, but it will also broaden your Self.
I really do believe in karma.
Not in the magical sense, nor in the sense that the universe tots up good and bad deeds like a cosmic Father Christmas.
But in the sense that actions beget consequences. Maybe be not straight away, and maybe not in the way you might expect - but consequences come.
Not in the magical sense, nor in the sense that the universe tots up good and bad deeds like a cosmic Father Christmas.
But in the sense that actions beget consequences. Maybe be not straight away, and maybe not in the way you might expect - but consequences come.
November 14, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I really do believe in karma.
Not in the magical sense, nor in the sense that the universe tots up good and bad deeds like a cosmic Father Christmas.
But in the sense that actions beget consequences. Maybe be not straight away, and maybe not in the way you might expect - but consequences come.
Not in the magical sense, nor in the sense that the universe tots up good and bad deeds like a cosmic Father Christmas.
But in the sense that actions beget consequences. Maybe be not straight away, and maybe not in the way you might expect - but consequences come.
November 14, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Just did my first cold plunge. 10% exhilarating 90% hateful.
November 14, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Just did my first cold plunge. 10% exhilarating 90% hateful.
🔊 Listen Now: Ethan Hawke On The Role That Pushed Him To His Limit
Fresh Air on NPR One | 44:11
one.npr.org
November 13, 2025 at 9:09 PM
I feel so beautifully emotionally manipulated by The Celebrity Traitors. They deserve every tear they got out of me (several) in that wonderful, utterly suspenseful and magnificently orchestrated finale.
(one day late and mercifully unspoiled)
(one day late and mercifully unspoiled)
November 7, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I feel so beautifully emotionally manipulated by The Celebrity Traitors. They deserve every tear they got out of me (several) in that wonderful, utterly suspenseful and magnificently orchestrated finale.
(one day late and mercifully unspoiled)
(one day late and mercifully unspoiled)
I’ll never forget the day I was an early career academic at a big conference on higher education. It was in a giant ballroom
I was volunteered to a white board, was given a marker, and was asked to write “curriculum” at the top.
And I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to spell it.
I was volunteered to a white board, was given a marker, and was asked to write “curriculum” at the top.
And I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to spell it.
November 7, 2025 at 6:27 PM
I’ll never forget the day I was an early career academic at a big conference on higher education. It was in a giant ballroom
I was volunteered to a white board, was given a marker, and was asked to write “curriculum” at the top.
And I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to spell it.
I was volunteered to a white board, was given a marker, and was asked to write “curriculum” at the top.
And I couldn’t for the life of me remember how to spell it.
“It’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing it’s the hope that kills you, that kills you.”
- Jackson Lamb #slowhorses
- Jackson Lamb #slowhorses
November 5, 2025 at 7:25 PM
“It’s not the hope that kills you. It’s knowing it’s the hope that kills you, that kills you.”
- Jackson Lamb #slowhorses
- Jackson Lamb #slowhorses
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
12 books to help with anxiety, stress, and burnout. Including my own “Little Book of Calm”!
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
12 books to help with anxiety, burnout and stress
Feeling frazzled? These stress management books offer practical advice to help you relax, unwind and take back control from anxiety.
www.penguin.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM
12 books to help with anxiety, stress, and burnout. Including my own “Little Book of Calm”!
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
12 books to help with anxiety, stress, and burnout. Including my own “Little Book of Calm”!
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
12 books to help with anxiety, burnout and stress
Feeling frazzled? These stress management books offer practical advice to help you relax, unwind and take back control from anxiety.
www.penguin.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 2:28 PM
12 books to help with anxiety, stress, and burnout. Including my own “Little Book of Calm”!
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
www.penguin.co.uk/discover/art...
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
#traitors really is brilliant for observing human psychology - faulty heuristics - particularly how sure we are of something that we’re completely wrong about.
October 30, 2025 at 8:13 PM
#traitors really is brilliant for observing human psychology - faulty heuristics - particularly how sure we are of something that we’re completely wrong about.
I miss the days when “lowest common denominator” was simply a mathematical term.
October 27, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I miss the days when “lowest common denominator” was simply a mathematical term.