Personal Essays & Independent Reflections
Young Thinking begins with something noticed — a pattern, a connection, an irritation that won't settle. What follows is the thinking itself: unplanned, sceptical of its own conclusions, and written to find out where it lands rather than to prove a point already made.
Some things catch the attention without fitting neatly into an evidence framework. A pattern that might be a pattern. A question that keeps returning. Something that seems to connect things that aren't supposed to connect.
Young Thinking is the forum for following those threads — honestly, sceptically, and without a predetermined destination. The rigour here isn't in citations; it's in the willingness to question what's being observed, including the observation itself.
These essays don't begin with a conclusion to defend. They begin with something noticed, and end wherever the thinking honestly leads.
Music spent nearly a century democratising aesthetic identity — giving everyone, regardless of class or background, a medium through which to express who they are. Now, as the recording artist returns to its natural home in performance, the cultural canopy opens. Female artists thrive with authenticity and confidence. The ecosystem music built — from fanzines to Substack — orbits all art forms. Where the oak falls, evolution finds the light.
How witnessing grief teaches us to love, how emotional competence transmits across generations, and why I dismissed a poet-witness until a single line made me listen properly. From Newcastle's stadium shows to the cultural traditions of working-class grief, discover how families transmit emotional templates not through instruction but through the moments we let ourselves be seen.
From herbivores that kill rivals to online cancellation campaigns, a personal exploration of killing as a natural phenomenon humans inevitably participate in. These reflections examine the various positions we adopt to manage this disturbing reality, validating the difficulty itself rather than any particular stance.
A terrible film that won't stop spreading its hidden code. Through syntropy — order emerging from chaos — explore how Hackers (1995) accidentally prophesied cybersecurity's importance, encoded alternative identity, and continues finding new receivers. From hacker culture to queer coding, discover why this failed movie succeeded at something unmeasurable.
"Something caught my attention. I wasn't sure what it was. I followed it. Young Thinking is where that process gets written down."
© 2026 Steve Young and YoungFamilyLife Ltd. All rights reserved.
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