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
· Dec 24
Why you regress into a stroppy teen at Christmas (and what you can do about it)
'Tis the season for regression – even if you're older, wiser and have done a heap load of therapy. Here Dr. Aaron Balick breaks down why going home for the holidays is so challenging, and how you can ...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk
It is a truth universally acknowledged amongst psychotherapists that however much progress a client has made through December, they will invariably return a hot mess come January.
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/why-...
www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/why-...
Whenever it comes down to the wire - every time life confronts me with a reality I haven’t chosen or don’t want - I return to Viktor Frankl and remember (to paraphrase):
“It isn’t about what I expect from life, but what life expects from me.”
“It isn’t about what I expect from life, but what life expects from me.”
February 3, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Whenever it comes down to the wire - every time life confronts me with a reality I haven’t chosen or don’t want - I return to Viktor Frankl and remember (to paraphrase):
“It isn’t about what I expect from life, but what life expects from me.”
“It isn’t about what I expect from life, but what life expects from me.”
Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel: “Brexit is just the beginning.”
February 2, 2026 at 9:24 PM
Jeffrey Epstein to Peter Thiel: “Brexit is just the beginning.”
The fact that Liberals are highlighting the constitutional right to carry firearms while Republicans are framing the holding of such arms as evidence of domestic terrorism, is giving me whiplash.
1/2
1/2
January 25, 2026 at 7:03 PM
The fact that Liberals are highlighting the constitutional right to carry firearms while Republicans are framing the holding of such arms as evidence of domestic terrorism, is giving me whiplash.
1/2
1/2
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
We’re reminded that Nazis got and retained power, not because they had magic propaganda or because they hid their crimes, but because a significant part of the population wanted them to have power.
President Trump, “You haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness; you’ve simply revealed it and leveraged it.“
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Thank You, President Trump
Dear President Trump,
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 11:39 AM
We’re reminded that Nazis got and retained power, not because they had magic propaganda or because they hid their crimes, but because a significant part of the population wanted them to have power.
We’re reminded that Nazis got and retained power, not because they had magic propaganda or because they hid their crimes, but because a significant part of the population wanted them to have power.
President Trump, “You haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness; you’ve simply revealed it and leveraged it.“
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Thank You, President Trump
Dear President Trump,
open.substack.com
January 25, 2026 at 11:39 AM
We’re reminded that Nazis got and retained power, not because they had magic propaganda or because they hid their crimes, but because a significant part of the population wanted them to have power.
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
President Trump, “You haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness; you’ve simply revealed it and leveraged it.“
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Thank You, President Trump
Dear President Trump,
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 10:11 PM
President Trump, “You haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness; you’ve simply revealed it and leveraged it.“
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
President Trump, “You haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness; you’ve simply revealed it and leveraged it.“
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Thank You, President Trump
Dear President Trump,
open.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 10:11 PM
President Trump, “You haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness; you’ve simply revealed it and leveraged it.“
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Must Read.
open.substack.com/pub/johnpavl...
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
Four-time Grammy Award nominee Jesse Welles performs his song "Join Ice."
Bob Dylan once said a single folk singer could defeat an entire army. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have our man.
Bob Dylan once said a single folk singer could defeat an entire army. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have our man.
January 24, 2026 at 9:10 AM
Four-time Grammy Award nominee Jesse Welles performs his song "Join Ice."
Bob Dylan once said a single folk singer could defeat an entire army. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have our man.
Bob Dylan once said a single folk singer could defeat an entire army. Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have our man.
Board of Peace?
I think you mean
Bored of Sleaze
I think you mean
Bored of Sleaze
January 22, 2026 at 9:28 PM
Board of Peace?
I think you mean
Bored of Sleaze
I think you mean
Bored of Sleaze
It seems that in America, if you have a conscience, you’re a leftist agitator.
January 22, 2026 at 6:59 PM
It seems that in America, if you have a conscience, you’re a leftist agitator.
“A man engrossed in himself is neither brother nor kinsman.”
January 21, 2026 at 9:41 PM
“A man engrossed in himself is neither brother nor kinsman.”
Poor Winston Smith (1984) could only be persuaded to say that 2 + 2 = 5 when a starving rat was caged to his face gunning to rip the flesh from his skull while he watched.
Republicans just need Caroline to say so.
Republicans just need Caroline to say so.
Karoline Leavitt is denying that Trump mixed up Greenland and Iceland multiple times during his speech today.
January 21, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Poor Winston Smith (1984) could only be persuaded to say that 2 + 2 = 5 when a starving rat was caged to his face gunning to rip the flesh from his skull while he watched.
Republicans just need Caroline to say so.
Republicans just need Caroline to say so.
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
The sense of self is not intrinsic, it emerges through relationships woth others.
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
Aaron Balick (@draaronb)
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship to other people. Until now.
substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:37 PM
The sense of self is not intrinsic, it emerges through relationships woth others.
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
The sense of self is not intrinsic, it emerges through relationships woth others.
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
Aaron Balick (@draaronb)
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship to other people. Until now.
substack.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:37 PM
The sense of self is not intrinsic, it emerges through relationships woth others.
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
In an age where we relate with machines on a daily basis, the self does not go unaffected. Let me introduce you to the algorithmic self:
substack.com/@draaronb/no...
The “Great Democrat Coverup”was allegedly keeping Biden indoors and away from the press so we wouldn’t see his decline.
The Republicans do the exact opposite, and just hope nobody notices.
The bar on Republicans, their officials and their expectations of them, appears to be much much lower.
The Republicans do the exact opposite, and just hope nobody notices.
The bar on Republicans, their officials and their expectations of them, appears to be much much lower.
January 20, 2026 at 9:25 PM
The “Great Democrat Coverup”was allegedly keeping Biden indoors and away from the press so we wouldn’t see his decline.
The Republicans do the exact opposite, and just hope nobody notices.
The bar on Republicans, their officials and their expectations of them, appears to be much much lower.
The Republicans do the exact opposite, and just hope nobody notices.
The bar on Republicans, their officials and their expectations of them, appears to be much much lower.
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship with other humans. Until now.
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
The Algorithmic Self: How AI is shaping identity and inner life
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship to others.
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:00 PM
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship with other humans. Until now.
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship with other humans. Until now.
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
The Algorithmic Self: How AI is shaping identity and inner life
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship to others.
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 3:00 PM
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship with other humans. Until now.
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
The ego wasn’t formed in isolation - it developed through relationships with others.
What’s new now is that AI contributes to that relational field - they are co-creating selfhood and identity via the algorithmic self:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
What’s new now is that AI contributes to that relational field - they are co-creating selfhood and identity via the algorithmic self:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
The Algorithmic Self: How AI is shaping identity and inner life
We tend to think of our egos as coming independently from deep inside ourselves, but psychologically, it’s always been formed in relationship to others.
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 11:06 AM
The ego wasn’t formed in isolation - it developed through relationships with others.
What’s new now is that AI contributes to that relational field - they are co-creating selfhood and identity via the algorithmic self:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
What’s new now is that AI contributes to that relational field - they are co-creating selfhood and identity via the algorithmic self:
open.substack.com/pub/appliedp...
The whole world, barring the US senate and house, says “no duh”.
Danish Parliament Deputy Speaker Lars-Christian Brask:
"If I could come with some advice, it would be for the Senate & House to start to take control of political power in America because with this erratic & mad behaviour, you have to ask the question, is the President capable of running the US?"
"If I could come with some advice, it would be for the Senate & House to start to take control of political power in America because with this erratic & mad behaviour, you have to ask the question, is the President capable of running the US?"
January 19, 2026 at 7:53 PM
The whole world, barring the US senate and house, says “no duh”.
Free speech will never achieve its potential so long as it’s paired alongside the unwillingness to understand.
January 19, 2026 at 7:07 PM
Free speech will never achieve its potential so long as it’s paired alongside the unwillingness to understand.
Reposted by Aaron Balick 🍉
It’s impressive how far Trump continues to regress when under pressure, considering how low his starting point is.
January 19, 2026 at 1:48 PM
It’s impressive how far Trump continues to regress when under pressure, considering how low his starting point is.
It’s impressive how far Trump continues to regress when under pressure, considering how low his starting point is.
January 19, 2026 at 1:48 PM
It’s impressive how far Trump continues to regress when under pressure, considering how low his starting point is.
Maybe, just maybe, the Kool Aid is getting a bit too sour.
January 18, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Maybe, just maybe, the Kool Aid is getting a bit too sour.
“Your medicine is in you, and you do not observe it. Your ailment is from yourself, and you do not register it.”
- Hazrat Ali
- Hazrat Ali
January 17, 2026 at 9:57 PM
“Your medicine is in you, and you do not observe it. Your ailment is from yourself, and you do not register it.”
- Hazrat Ali
- Hazrat Ali
There is a quote attributed to Mohammad:
“More harm is done by fools through foolishness than is done by evildoers through wickedness.”
What luck to have a wicked fool at the helm!
“More harm is done by fools through foolishness than is done by evildoers through wickedness.”
What luck to have a wicked fool at the helm!
January 17, 2026 at 8:49 PM
There is a quote attributed to Mohammad:
“More harm is done by fools through foolishness than is done by evildoers through wickedness.”
What luck to have a wicked fool at the helm!
“More harm is done by fools through foolishness than is done by evildoers through wickedness.”
What luck to have a wicked fool at the helm!