The good life. Rich, lies, mastery.

…a new paper, published in the American Psychological Association’s Psychological Review, suggests there’s a another way to live a good life. It isn’t focused on happiness or purpose, but rather it’s a life that’s “psychologically rich.” …According to authors Shige Oishi, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, and Erin Westgate, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida, it’s one characterized by “interesting experiences in which novelty and/or complexity are accompanied by profound changes in perspective.”

Why are so many of us such terrible lie detectors? (If you doubt that premise, recall the astounding number of banks and financial services firms that invested with Bernie Madoff.) First, we’re inherently trusting creatures. Unless we have evidence to the contrary (and sometimes even when we do), we typically trust that people are telling the truth. And second, we’re overconfident in our ability to detect lies.

Balenciaga’s unmatched talent, masterful tailoring, and anti-conventionalist style earned him great respect and admiration among his colleagues: Christian Dior referred to him as “the master of us all”, and Hubert de Givenchy called him “the architect of haute couture”.