What does it mean to feel human?
The shape of thoughts — a first-of-its-kind, social experiment. An exploration of our internal landscapes.
Blending academic insight, introspection, playful reflection, and art. The shape of thoughts is part of a wider investigation into a simple question: What does it feel like to be inside someone else’s head?
The mental health movement has given us more ways to speak openly about our experiences. But many of the labels we use — anxious, depressed, ADHD, OCD, narcissistic, avoidant — are deficit-oriented. What if we could get more creative?
Labels can be self-fulfilling. If we tell ourselves we are a certain way, our minds will look for proof and live into that reality. Our self-assessment shapes our becoming.
So how do we see ourselves with more awe? How do we marvel at the colours of our internal worlds — and extend that same wonder to others? If we approach each other with the desire to truly see inside, will that change the way we listen?
Could listening become the new mindfulness?
How it works
We’re moving through self help together. Using frameworks from behvioural science and pscycology we’re moving through a 6 week behaviour change program. A space where rather then being told what to do, you are guided through prompts that teach you how to think for yourself, how to better design systems and solutions that are tailored to you.
We’ll be exploring personality, emotions, reactions, narratives and different other facets of whats makes up out internal experience.
These questions are designed to spark both self-conversation and deeper conversations with others — a new kind of dialogue around mental health that centres creativity and curiosity, rather than pathology.
For the participants who concent, this responses will be used to make up new understandings about our collective experiences.
Anchoring our data: the Sim Self To help us ground people’s responses in something meaningful, we’re using the Big Five personality test as a starting point. We’ll be layering this with different other axis of experience to build out a deep and data set. Something we pledge so share, so we can all learn from the insights and unpack the question…What does it means to feel human?
This project has been deeply considered over years of fascination with academic frameworks and approaches to unpacking complex questions. In consulting with multiple academics, the advice was to keep this research in the public sphere. Because it is purely owned by us, we can explore any direction we choose, with no limitations on the questions we can ask. While we lean on the work of giants, we are free to shape the project as it evolves — which is why I’m so excited to hear other people’s perspectives on how they would guide us in exploring these questions.
