Noblesse oblige is a French phrase meaning “nobility obliges”—the idea that those with power, privilege, or advantage carry a responsibility to act with generosity, fairness, and moral leadership.

Umwelt describes the unique sensory world that each organism inhabits.

Pronoia is the belief that the world is conspiring in your favor—the opposite of paranoia.

Chronemics is the study of how humans perceive, structure, and use time—and how those perceptions communicate meaning.

The Medici Effect refers to the explosive creativity that emerges when diverse ideas, disciplines, and cultures intersect.

Eucatastrophe is a term coined by J.R.R. Tolkien (author of The Lord of the Rings) to describe the sudden, joyful turn in a story.

Aporia describes the state of being genuinely puzzled—facing a question that resists resolution.

The Overview Effect is a cognitive and emotional shift that describes a sudden, overwhelming sense of interconnectedness

Enantiodromia describes the phenomenon where things eventually turn into their opposites.

L’appel du vide, French for “the call of the void,” describes the sudden, inexplicable urge to do something dangerous or self-destructive.

Semantic drift is the process by which the meaning of words changes over time.

Metanoia is a profound, often life-altering transformation in one’s perspective, values, or way of being.

Protopia is the idea of progress through incremental, continuous improvement rather than a leap to utopia (a flawless paradise) or a descent into dystopia (a nightmare).

Epistemic courage is the willingness to face uncertainty, question accepted truths, and risk error in the pursuit of knowledge.

Emotional labor is the effort of managing feelings, expressions, and interpersonal dynamics as part of one’s role—often at work, but also in daily life.

The Extended Mind is a theory in cognitive science that argues our thinking isn’t limited to the brain alone—it extends into our bodies, our tools, and our environments.

Self-authorship is the ability to define your own beliefs, identity, and direction in life, rather than simply inheriting them from authority figures, cultural norms, or external pressures.

The IKEA Effect is a cognitive bias in which people place disproportionately high value on products or outcomes they helped create, even if the result is flawed or inferior.

Cunningham’s Law is the idea that the fastest way to get a correct answer online is not to ask a question, but to post the wrong answer.

Hyperstition is a concept that blends “hyper” and “superstition” to describe how fictional ideas or narratives, once circulated, can become real by influencing behavior, systems, or culture.