My latest blog post:

From instinct to institution: How our evolved traits create & reinforce cultural beliefs (video clip from 2014)

Bewl Water at about 4:30pm

Why Nostalgia Feels So Meaningful | Hagioptasia “Nostalgia, I realised, is not simply a longing for the past. It is also a yearning for an elusive sense of specialness – a fleeting quality that feels deeply meaningful yet defies explanation.” hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2024/12/23/why…

Hagioptasic video of low flying clouds over my house on Sunday morning - with a bit of Thomas Tallis

My latest blog post is on ‘hagioptasia’ - coined by Dan Laidler, which is the tendency to perceive an aura of specialness around certain things or places - and how this is expressed in emo music. #music #psychology samwoolfe.com/2025/02/hagiop…

The Art Establishment Doesn't Understand Art hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2025/03/13/the…

samwoolfe.com/2025/03/hagiop…

On Whiteleaf Cross about an hour ago

my latest video 'Super Chubory'

Well chuffed to have co-authored this new paper about the emotional bonds we form with places: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

What Pascal Boyer Missed About Religion - And Why It Matters hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2025/05/12/wha…

Seeing the Sacred: How the Romans Understood What Modern Thought Overlooks hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/see…

I think this is fundamentally true, and important. hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2025/05/26/see…

My latest blog post:

Iain McGilchrist calls it the sacred - but the same 'pull' draws us to celebrity, nostalgia, glamour & status symbols. It's not always divine, but it is human. Hagioptasia theory explains why.

"We find ourselves asking “Is this art?” because we sense something significant is supposed to be happening, yet we can’t rationally justify that significance." hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2025/07/10/the…

A simple exercise in self-awareness that could change how you understand yourself hagioptasia.wordpress.com/2025/07/27/a-s…

Quick test: Recall a childhood memory that feels somehow 'magical'. You rationally know it was an ordinary day, yet it still feels deeply 'special'. That specialness-perception is hagioptasia - the mechanism behind nostalgia, sacredness, & much more. hagioptasia.wordpress.com

my new song youtu.be/P1_AFMkOQuU