Factfulness-Negativity instinct

Negativity instinct means a tendency to notice the bad more than the good.

Manifest in 3 ways: the misremembering of the past in a glorifying way; selective reporting by journalists and activists; feeling,not thinking,that as long as things are bad,it is heartless to say they are getting better.

Factfulness:recognizing when we get negative news,remembering information with bad events is much more likely to reach us. We don't hear info about improvements,which creates an illusion that the world is getting no better.This is stressful.

To avoid and control negativity instinct:

1.Better and bad.convince yourself that things can be both bad and better.e.g.a baby in the incubator,who got all her life signs being monitored.The signs show her physical status is getting better but the fact is she still has to stay in the incubator.This example shows how better and bad coexist.

2.Good news is not news. Good news is almost never reported.When you see bad news,ask whether equally positive news would have reached you.

3.Gradual improvement is not news. When gradual improvement comes with periodic dips, you are more likely to focus on the dips instead of the overall improvement.

4.More news does not imply more sufferings.More bad news is sometimes due to better surveillance of suffering,not implying a worsening or deteriorating world.

5.Beware of rosy pasts.People often glorify their early experiences,and nations often glorify their hostories.Or put it in another way, memories do not reflect the truth.They are beautified, which in return causes distortions about the reality at that time.