When we think of turning the page, many go to the idea of what they will do differently, what they will improve in themselves, and their actions. Unfortunately, many times this change does not happen. Maybe it does not happen consistently, and the good habits you were trying to make, break. Eventually, it seems impossible to stop bad habits. But why is this? Are we wired to continue patterns?
 
Patterns that we follow are not always our fault; for example, parents pass down their habits and values to their offspring. Even if a child wants to differ from these patterns, they probably won’t. This is usually linked to the early years of life, when most information is absorbed, and much of it is due to observation of the things around them. Behavioural imitation comes from the mirror neuron system, a group of specialized brain cells that respond when we perform an action and when we observe someone else doing it. Much of what is absorbed early on is stored as implicit memory, acting as a subconscious script for all our reactions in daily life.  
 
Not only is it due to these observational responses, but it is also due to the attachment theory, which explains the neurological adaptation that people make in their early ages to their caregivers' emotional and behavioural habits. This is an instinct due to a fear of abandonment, as the child depends on their parents for survival.  
 
Psychologist Bowlby helped coin the idea of internal working models, which determine our perspective on ourselves, our relationships, and others, usually due to the dynamic between the child and their responsible adult. If your responsible adult was emotionally distant, you might adopt habits like people pleasing and others that support the idea that care must be earned.  
 
Humans also have a familiarity bias, which basically means that even if certain patterns and habits inherited from your parents are bad, you will do them, simply because we are drawn to things that are familiar to us as it makes us feel safer.  
 
However, lots of psychiatrists and doctors debate on the extent of nurture, being what we learn from being taught by our parents, nature, or what has been genetically passed down to us. The psychologist Eric Turkheimer believed that behaviour was dependent on biological and psychological factors, which he concluded - through a human experimentation with twins - that were separated at birth, then exposed to different lifestyles. Then, they were later still seen with similarities in their behaviour. Even with the limitation of the experiment and human testing, nature is supported through the advancements of neurological research. The ways our synapses act depend on the proteins that instruct and power our brain connections. Genetic differences can alter the speed and how easily neurons communicate and adapt to situations through the neurotransmitters, synaptic cleft and other members of the synapse (the way our neurons transmit electrical impulses).  
 
Therapists work to remove things that you have gotten from your parents and childhood that are not good for you today. Despite the difficulty of the process, patients are forced to acknowledge the why for their behaviours, and connect them to traumatic backgrounds, so they can try to reverse the effects. Psychologists are helpful because all these factors that make it so hard to break a pattern are in our subconscious. They have been present in our life for so long, we don’t think about them - making it difficult to identify them as a problem in our mentality.  
 
In conclusion, our behaviours are shaped by nature and nurture. Our behavior is shaped as we grow; we become tied to the experiences we had as children and babies. Psychologists work to make the patient aware of the reasons for their complexes and personality, only then being able to mend the traumatic events and thus, their habits.  ​

There is a famous story about Adolf Hitler as a child, which says a priest who once saw him drowning rescued him. Even though the story might not be true, it still poses a very relevant question for us.  That is, what if Hitler had not existed, would the holocaust still have occurred? 
 
This is not limited only to Hitler, but also to many other historical events in which people pose the “what if” question. However, when discussing Hitler’s case, there are many different opinions. Some believe that Hitler’s organised tactics were what led him to power, and that without his ideas and his charming manner to catch the attention of an audience, the Nazi Party would not have become so popular during the 1930s. 
 
Amidst these conversations, there is never an absolute answer - but it remains important to understand the mindset of the German people during the 30s; this shows that Hitler’s role was inevitable, and if it weren’t for him, someone else would have taken his place. 
 
After the Dawes Plan, a plan made by a wealthy banker in the United States that lent the German government money as they dealt with hyperinflation, the Great Depression led Germany’s economy into a large plummet once more. Despite the plan’s help in solving issues like the French invasion of the Ruhr, an important mining territory in Germany, hyperinflation, and attempts to overthrow the Weimar Government (a democratic government that controlled Germany at the time) through revolutions, it also made Germany extremely dependent on the USA. Consequently, after the Wall Street crash in 1929, all money that was lent to Germany was asked to be returned, and once more, unemployment spread through the country. What does this have to do with the Nazi Party’s success in the 1930s? Well, with everyone enraged with the Weimar Republic once more, authoritarian regimes and fascism spread due to an unhappy population within a country. The Nazi party had the perfect ‘solution’ to all of people’s problems, including the extermination of the Jewish community, the fall of the Weimar Republic, and breaking the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, a treaty made after WW1 to resolve conflicts -  ultimately blaming Germany for starting The Great War. Desperate for an answer, the German people clung to the Nazi’s, leading us to believe that if instead of the Nazi’s some other fascist party had ‘come to the rescue,’ they also would have popularized. Or maybe, even the Nazi party itself - just without Hitler.
 
On the other hand, before the 1930s and Hitler’s arrest after the Munich Putsch (a revolution held by the Nazi party to try and overthrow the Weimar Government), the Nazis were struggling, to say the least. The Munich Putsch was a failure, and many argue that without Hitler’s change in strategy, the Nazi’s would have never come to power. The Putsch was a revolution which called for a march in Munich, Bavaria, which directly opposed the Weimar government. After Hitler saw that it had not worked, he shifted his way into power from trying to remove the Weimar Republic through its own laws and constitution, working his way up through the Reichstag (the German parliament), until he reached the position of chancellor. In this aspect, Hitler was very successful, as by 1933, he did indeed become chancellor; by 1934, he became Führer (the combined position of Chancellor and President) of Germany, initiating his rule until 1945. 
 
Overall, many people have their own perspective on whether or not Nazi Germany would have risen without Hitler. On one hand, some believed that someone else would have led the party into power. On the other hand, some believe that only Hitler's shift in tactics was what made the Party so successful, leading to, arguably, one of the world's largest conflicts: WW2. 

Mind reading has always been presented as a useful superpower in films and books. Many people believe it would make communication easier and prevent lies or misunderstandings. However, if humans could suddenly hear each other’s thoughts, society would probably become far more complicated and chaotic than people imagine.

At first, the ability would seem exciting. Students could know the answers teachers expect, politicians would no longer be able to hide corruption, and criminals could be caught more easily. Relationships might also become more honest because people would always know what others truly think or feel. In theory, this could create a more truthful society.

However, the disadvantages would quickly become obvious. Human thoughts are often random, emotional, and impulsive. People think things they do not actually mean, especially when angry or stressed. If every private thought became public, friendships and relationships could be destroyed very easily. Even polite conversations would become uncomfortable because people would constantly hear judgments, insecurities, or negative opinions that are normally hidden.

Privacy would also completely disappear. Governments or powerful organisations might use mind reading to control people or monitor citizens. It would become impossible to keep secrets, whether personal or political. Many people would probably isolate themselves because they could no longer escape the thoughts of others. Society might become quieter and less trusting instead of more connected.
Although mind reading sounds fascinating, it could remove one of the most important parts of being human: the ability to choose what we share with others. Sometimes privacy is necessary, and without it, society might lose both trust and freedom.

For thousands of years, the Moon has always been a part of human life. It lights up the night sky, controls the tides, and has inspired myths, poems, and scientific discoveries. However, imagine waking up one morning to discover that the Moon had completely disappeared. Although this may sound impossible, the consequences would be both scientifically dangerous and emotionally unsettling.

The first noticeable change would be the darkness at night. Without the Moon reflecting sunlight onto Earth, nights would become far darker, especially in places without artificial lights. Many animals rely on moonlight for survival, including birds that migrate and sea turtles that use the Moon to navigate. As a result, ecosystems around the world could be disrupted very quickly.

In addition, the disappearance of the Moon would strongly affect Earth’s oceans. The Moon’s gravity is mainly responsible for creating tides, so without it, tides would become much weaker. This could damage marine ecosystems and affect fishing industries that depend on normal ocean patterns. Scientists also believe that the Moon helps stabilise Earth’s tilt. Without this stability, Earth’s climate could gradually become more extreme, causing harsher winters, hotter summers, and unpredictable weather conditions.

However, the effects would not only be scientific. The Moon has always had cultural and emotional importance to humanity. Throughout history, people have connected the Moon with romance, mystery, and comfort. Without it, the night sky would feel strangely empty. Many people would probably experience fear or sadness, as if the world had lost something permanent and familiar.
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Although humans would eventually adapt to life without the Moon, the disappearance of such an important part of nature would completely change the way people see both Earth and the universe.