50 Blogs and Sites to Improve Your Understanding of the Human Mind

We live in a time where the world’s economy is in flux. New careers, markets, and industries develop daily, while others become outdated and fall into the periphery. Education in general, and college education specifically, are arguably more important than ever as they are a means to establish a secure foundation in a world of change. Economists claim that college education today is the equivalent of the high school education of past generations. Thus, students face new and serious challenges of elevating themselves through education in order to compete with increasing competition and in an environment of shrinking opportunities.

To get the most out of education it is crucial to understand how the mind works. And herein lies a unique advantage to the students of the modern day: modern psychology can teach individuals to reach the higher potential that is needed to thrive in today’s world. Whether it is learning how to break a bad habit, exploring the best strategies for memory retention, or finding out how to improve cognitive skills, understanding how the mind works and how it relates to the world will help to maximize personal performance, whether that be in education, work, or personal life. In this article we explore 50 blogs and sites that make up a comprehensive regimen for understanding the mind and its processes across multiple dimensions and paradigms.

• 2 Know Myself Article Database – This site maintains a directory of hundreds of articles that span a wide variety of approaches to self-understanding. The material maintains academic credibility while delivering the information in concise and intelligible language, making it an invaluable resource for those seeking self-understanding who may not have a background in academic science.
• The Mindful World – This site offers a thoroughly developed selection of resources under the common focus of promoting mindfulness and engaged living. The constant generation of poignant articles and its resource database provide excellent foundations for anyone in the pursuit of understanding the mindfulness movement.
• Brian Tracy’s Blog: The Psychology of Achievement – Brian Tracy is considered one of the foremost authorities on sales training and personal success today. His blog is dedicated to helping individuals understand the psychology of success. Although his focus is mostly on personal success in careers, the application of his writing is broad and profound so as to help anyone better perceive their mind in terms of the personal path to improvement.
• Freedom from the Known: Achieving Inner Peace – On the path to higher education, success, and personal improvement there is all manner of conflict and difficulty. This blog delivers an interdisciplinary approach to conflict resolution. It is aimed at helping individuals overcome personal battles through a unique focus on both spirituality and academic psychology.
• The Dana Foundation – The Dana Foundation is a private philanthropic organization committed to advancing brain research and educating the public in a comprehensive and unbiased format. The Dana Foundation’s blog is an excellent resource for receiving current research on brain science and its application to the broader world.
• The Unbounded Spirit: Self-Improvement – For those who live spiritual lives, this site explores health and self-improvement from different angles, while adhering to a high standard of research and to the theme of personal spirituality. The self-improvement section provides a wonderful blend of common sense advice and academic psychology.
• The High Existence – This site caters to a highly involved community and provides a non-judgmental medium for free-thinkers to discuss the mind and the human condition. The result is an extremely poignant compilation of articles and community discussions where individuals of any background can engage in meaningful discourse.
• Time for Success: Strategies to Organize Time and Space – In today’s world there are entirely new options for organization and time management. Students and business people in particular can benefit from this blog, where the mission is to help people understand how to train their brains to maximize organization and efficiency in a chaotic world.
• The Sparring Mind – Gregory Ciotti is a massive success story and in his blog he shares his lessons on how to increase your creativity and overall performance in school, work, and personal life. He is most well-known for his prolific strategies for developing better understanding of mind through communication and clearer relationship dynamics.
• Calm Down Your Mind – Stress is one of the most dangerous ailments of our time. This blog provides content with a focus of helping individuals learn how to train their minds and their subconscious in order to live calmer, happier, and less anxious lives. With comprehensive coverage of the topic, this blog can benefit individuals with levels of stress from minor to the most severe.
• Stuff to Blow Your Mind: Psychology – This site provides a welcomed change of pace in the coverage of mind science and focuses more on the fringier aspects of the field. It provides unbelievable facts and humorous spins on existing research. While definitely bordering on the playful side, the site does still provide meaningful insights on the workings of the mind that might be otherwise left uncovered.
• Breaking the Cycle: Changing Conversations – This blog seeks to break cultural stigmas and paradigms concerning addiction and substance abuse. It provides a valuable resource in understanding how to train your mind against such threats. As addiction becomes a growing epidemic in our society, it becomes more important than ever to understand the subtle dangers of everyday life, and this blog is an excellent resource for doing just that.
• Harvard Business Review: Understanding the Mind – The overlap between psychology and success in the business world is profoundly important. So while the Harvard Business Review focuses mainly on business, marketing, and industry developments, it provides excellent coverage of how and why understanding mental processes is crucial to understanding the world of business that cannot be found elsewhere.
• Mind Tools: Essential Skills for an Excellent Career – Modern psychology has a lot to offer to professionals who are looking to develop new skill sets in order to take advantage of current opportunities or open the door to new ones. This site is dedicated to helping individuals develop such skill sets as well as a comprehensive understanding of the mind as it relates to career success.
• Teaching and Learning with the New York Times – The New York Times offers an excellent section on learning and teaching that explores the science of the mind from countless perspectives. This allows it to cover the unique perspective of the overlap between psychology and popular culture and events.
• Cracked: Exploring Science Through Humor – Sometimes the best learning happens when one doesn’t realize that the learning is occurring. This site capitalizes on this truth and explores poignant research from the fields of biology, psychology, and economics while remaining firmly rooted in the arena of humor and brevity. Nevertheless, in Cracked’s Science Humor section you will find coverage of psychology and the mind that is enjoyable and unlikely to be found elsewhere.
• Mind Hacks: Neuroscience and Psychology Tricks to Find out What’s Going on in Your Mind – It’s all in the title. This blog is maintained by the two authors of the book, “Mind Hacks.” In their blog they reveal tips and tricks that allow individuals to “hack” everyday life in order to achieve happiness, clarity, and other highly sought-after outcomes.
• The Last Psychiatrist – Who better to teach you about your mind that nationally renowned and successful psychiatrist? In this blog you will find a collection of current articles and the iconoclastic writings of an active psychiatrist, who has a lot to say about the state of modern psychology and the individuals of today’s culture.
• Psych Central: Channel N – Psych Central’s Channel N blog offers a continuous flow of articles and videos that explore important issues in the science of the mind and explore the evolving body of relevant research. Beyond its commitment to academic standards of excellence in its content, the blog offers tidbits of advice for the nuances of everyday life and its challenges.
• Research Digest: Blogging on the Brain and Behavior – Research Digest is an internationally recognized blog that tackles the enormous endeavor of translating the most dense psychological research into insights for everyday life. The writers on staff do an amazing job of generating culturally important content that promotes personal health and development in ways that feel fresh and unbiased.
• The Guardian: Neurophilosophy – From molecules to neuroscience and everything in between, the Neurophilosophy blog explores the world through a lens of neuroscience, philosophy, and biology. What ensues is a fascinating analysis of discoveries in science, real-world events, and highly intelligent strategies for methodical self-improvement.
• Neuromarketing: Where Brain Science and Marketing Meet – For those looking to improve their understanding of their brain in order to excel in the workplace, this blog is an essential resource. Roger Dooley elucidates the subtle underpinnings of brain science that drive developments in the industry of marketing. He then develops useful strategies based on these observations to help his readers succeed in their personal careers.
• Psych Central: World of Psychology – The world of psychology is an enormous entity. Smaller blogs and sites will have a difficult time keeping up with all the developments in the field. Which is why the World of Psychology blog is maintained by a team of bloggers who specialize in delivering current news and analysis of the field in concise and readable language. The blog helps to connects readers from all backgrounds with the science of the human mind.
• The Situationist – This blog’s main focus is to analyze cultural events through the lens of psychology and philosophy. Through this focus the author gleans poignant conclusions about the state of humanity and our culture as a whole and then translates these broad conclusions into meaningful insights and advice for everyday life.
• Psychological Science: We’re Only Human – We’re Only Human is a blog maintained by a wildly successful writer, Wray Herbert, who has covered psychological and behavioral science for decades. He pulls from his experience to deliver a humorous exploration of humanity’s quirks and shortcomings, though his willingness to use humor does not keep him from consistently driving home powerful messages and insights.
• Psychology Today: Neuronarrative – David Di Salvo is well-known blogger who, in this blog, covers the complicated business of thinking. His writing is often summarized as popular cognitive science with a public health slant. He is skillful at interweaving psychological principles with important public issues.
• Research Blogging – Let’s face it, in today’s world of science it is quite difficult to stay up-to-date on research. There are tens of thousands of research institutions and journals broadcasting new research each day. Thankfully, blogs like this one consolidate and organize new research for those interested in the academic side of the science of the mind. This blog is an excellent resource for students of science and those looking for a hub of peer-reviewed research.
• In the News: Forensic Psychology, Criminology, & Psychology-Law – The mind is a curious thing. For some, it drives them to the edges of society where they commit criminal acts or challenge the law in new and interesting ways. Dr. Karen Franklin is a well-known forensic psychologist and in this blog she covers the explosive collision of psychology and law, exploring stigmas, myths, and pop-culture issues.
• The Mouse Trap – In this blog, Sandeep Gautam documents his musings on neuroscience and everyday life. Though his career is in software development, he moonlights as a well-known psychology writer. He earned this reputation, at least in part, by conducting over 10,000 hours of self-study using principles of general psychology and neuroscience to begin a journey of self-improvement and career success.
• Bad Science – Dr. Ben Goldacre is a best-selling author who has dedicated his career to uncovering maladaptive thinking and policies in our culture. On his blog he explores a multitude of topics, though they are all connected by a constant theme of encouraging rational thought and an unbiased analysis of both the self and the world around it. He is also well-known for taking the bull by the horns in hot-button and controversial issues.
• Dr. Petra Boynton’s Blog – In her blog, reputable writer Dr. Boynton covers issues of sex, relationships, and the media. Her background in social psychology shows through in her insightful analyses of these issues. She has written several successful books and focuses on translating dense psychological science into practical guides and strategies.
• Babel’s Dawn: A Blog on the Origins of Language – Communication is the foundation on which all advancements of our species are built. This blog explores the origins and science of communication in the spoken word and in speech. The result is a fascinating investigation of the perennial nature of cultures, religions, and thoughts.
• The Neurocritic – One of the most detrimental aspects of the pop-culture in psychology is the tendency to sensationalize research to the point where it loses its validity or, at least, that is the position of this blog. The Neurocritic’s content is aimed at debunking and deconstructing sensationalistic research and the maladaptive beliefs about psychology, so that one might pursue an unbiased understanding of the mind.
• Advances in the History of Psychology – Although it is one the newer sciences, psychology boasts a rich history which can benefit anyone looking to better understand the workings of their mind. This blog has received positive attention in the field of psychology for its comprehensive aggregation of news and notes on the history of the discipline.
• Deric’s Mind Blog – In this blog, a well-known emeritus professor explores the biological roots of the brain and behavior. He compiles this information into highly informative articles, guides, and occasionally random musings. His background as a teacher proves invaluable in his writing as he is able to cover complicated topics in ways that are easy to understand.
• Belief Net: Emotional Health – Belief Net’s emotional health section consistently generates content designed to motivate and empower individuals for everyday life through articles and guides that remain true to the principles of psychology while also offering themes of spirituality and religious belief. This is an excellent resource for anyone looking to improve emotional intelligence.
• Anxious No More: The Reality of Anxiety – The reality of anxiety is that many people deal with it on a daily basis, and most of us will come to grips with it at some point in our lives. This blog is one woman’s attempt at raising awareness of the issue and providing comprehensive coverage of coping mechanisms and advice for overcoming anxiety.
• I Choose Change: Love Yourself – Who better to learn from about the mind than a group of experienced and successful licensed counselors? This site and blog are dedicated to providing practical solutions to relationship issues and the complications of everyday life. They also provide online counseling services for anyone wishing to take the next step.
• The Brain Alchemist – Anastasia Pryanikov is the founder of E Studio LLC, a training and consulting company that translates neuroscience into solutions in for the world of business. On her blog you can find a wide-array of content that focuses on this same topic, which is, elucidating the world of efficiency and success in business using the insights of neuroscience.
• Everyday Psychology – This blog is maintained by a successful psychologist with numerous accolades who posits that everything in psychology has to do with everyday life and everyday experience. He writes to clarify and explicate this connection, hoping to help his readers come to better understandings of their mind and their world.
• Science Blogs: Cognitive Daily – Thought it is closed now, Cognitive Daily was one of the most successful psychology blogs ever and it still holds over five years of content, an enormous catalogue of musings, questions, and answers about cognitive science as it pertains to every nook and cranny of human life.
• Psychology Today – You can’t talk about resources for understanding the mind without talking about tycoons like Psychology Today. While its coverage is broad, if you know what you are looking for you are likely to find it somewhere on this site. Its blog section is an excellent place to find curated information on the science of the mind.
• The Scientific American: Mind – This blog is one of the most high-traffic on this list, and as such, provides one of the largest selections of content and coverage. And for those willing to pay a subscription fee, you can gain access to Mind Magazine in both digital and hard-copy formats to view cutting-edge developments and news in the field.
• Ted: Ideas Worth Spreading – Ted is one of the best things to happen to scientists, researchers, and learners in our time. It is a free library of videos that explore an enormous amount of topics and information. For those with some direction in mind, here you can find hidden gems and amazing insights in the science of the mind.
• PsyBlog: Understand Your Mind – PsyBlog is an award-winning website that endeavors to explore all areas of the research that delves into how the mind works. Here you can find some of the most reputable authors and bloggers decoding the most complex research into formats that are both accessible and educational.