28/2/2026 – Big Think, Alain de Botton.

I often find Alain’s insights and words to be extremely valuable and easy to understand. This interview covers areas of psychotherapy, attachment theory, human experience, and beyond, all in a very digestible and interesting set of chapters. One of the main messages is that human beings will often try to seek out and recreate childhood experiences in adulthood, as a challenge or puzzle to beat, now equipped with adult tools. Alain also talks about how the notion of romantic compatibility in the modern world is somewhat misguided, how people are inclined to throw a relationship away if it becomes too hard and try to find something easier. Instead, romantic compatibility stems from the willingness to communicate and work towards change. This idea was touching as someone who spends time combatting our “throw-away” society, which prioritises single-use and non-repairable items to be consumed rather than fixed. These are only some parts of the interview that resonated with me, and I would highly encourage you to sit through the whole thing.