The warm lights hum softly while the carpet you walk on squishes as if it were a little damp. This is the one place you were hoping never to end up in: the Backrooms, an endless area with liminal spaces. You’ve been wandering these endless yellow walls for a while and haven’t found a way out since you’ve gotten here. The place was fairly empty, yet you felt a looming presence lurking around every corner. No matter how many times you convince yourself there is no one or thing out there, a pit of doubt grows in your mind. The feeling of uncertainty and vulnerability is a common feeling for everyone, even for those who aren’t stuck in the Backrooms. Experiencing certain situations, like discrimination and betrayal, could cause people to develop paranoia and mistrust.

Hate crimes against people of color have not been a new thing in our country. It has divided people and created large controversies, like the BLM movement. One of the first events to start the movement was the death of Ahmuad Arbery, who was shot while in his neighborhood. This changed the media, society, and became a new topic people would talk about for a long time. A song called “SHOES” by Lupe Fiasco was released to memorialize him; he writes, “White kid at the front let me go first cause I was black,” and he found it “touching, I never forget it like riding bikes.” This “kind gesture” by the kid obviously illustrates racist undertones that didn’t go unnoticed by the singer. How Lupe never forgot that favor also hints towards that feeling of always being judged as a minority. This demonstrates that racism is still a prominent human construct that affects how people live their lives.

The play “Othello,” by Shakespeare, tells the story of a jealous man, Iago, who gets revenge on Othello for not being promoted to lieutenant. One of his methods was creating false ideas in Othello’s head that his wife was cheating on him. Iago was able to convince Othello that “she did deceive her father” to marry him, which allowed Othello to suspect that she would do the same to him (Shakespeare 3.3.131). These thoughts clouded Othello’s mind and caused him to make a rash decision and eventually kill his wife. Desdemona, who proved faithful the whole play, had her life ended by Othello’s paranoia. It’s astounding that Othello did not even give Desdemona a chance to prove herself and already made up his mind. This display of emotion from Othello showcases how easily the mind can be manipulated to see the worst in people.

Whether someone is smart or stupid, intelligent or dumb, how do researchers differentiate those aspects within a person? A study was conducted to understand the metacognition of four groups of young adults, which gave rise to the phenomenon known as the Dunning-Kruger effect. The effect discovered that those who overestimate themselves tend not to realize their weaknesses, and those who underestimate themselves perform better than others. Teachers have noticed that “smart students are always second guessing themselves or taking the time to consider various possibilities, because they [can] examine the problem from every angle” (Theriault). It supports that although paranoia and overthinking may be seen as bad traits, they could open the door to more possibilities and new ideas.