Is World Getting Worse Day by Day?

I hear multiple people telling me the world is getting worse day by day.

And this is my answer to why it feels that way.

The information we consume shapes our perspectives

We all consume information.

And at large quantities these days.

The content we consume shapes our perspectives.

The professional media we consume has a higher incentive for negativity and danger.

Why?

Not because the media is inherently biased.

It’s because we humans are wired that way for our survival.

Our pessimist forefathers survived while optimists back then perished. We’re the children of those pessimist forefathers.

We’re the grand-grand-…. sons and daughters of ancestors that could sense any danger faster and effectively.

The ancestors who couldn’t notice any slight danger perished.
It’s just evolution.

So, we humans are wired to notice anything that’s a potential threat or dangerous because we still think it matters for our survival(on a subconscious level).

Look at how media is incentivized – more attention, more TRP, more money.
I have written previously on how incentives make anything thrive – good or bad.
Read it here.

We notice information or content that talks about danger/threat more because we’re wired to notice them for our survival

It applies to newsfeeds, Google news, or any digital content in general.

The algorithm keeps showing us the info/content based on our past engagement.
Also, it takes into consideration how people with similar interests engage in the platform.

As we know, engagement tends to be higher for clickbait news, news on an imminent threat, conspiracy theories, and so on.
I’m not stating that the content in itself is negative.

The logic behind its incentives makes it negatively biased.

Captions like these are relevant and attention-grabbing at the same time. We could use this exact same logic to convey important and beneficial info as well.

Now, media needs money, more TRP, hence more negative and dangerous news, hence we see more negative news – even though there is an equal number or more positive things that happen in the world every single moment.

If you still feel confused about the ancestral story I told before – just think about the negative events that happened in your life.
Then try recalling the positive things.

We remember the negative stuff in our lives far more than the positive ones.

It’s psychologically proven that we tend to remember negative events far more than the positive ones

I just want to remind you – the world is a far better place than we all see it.
Also, be a bit more open-minded to multiple perspectives and consume news/info from multiple/varied media/people.

The world is a far better place than we see and feel. Acknowledge that and be kind to one another.

That’ll help you see things in a better light.

Love you all.

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