Breaking Free: Why You Should Stop Watching the News

Here's a glimpse of what the morning news looks like A plane crashed in America, a man killed his 9-year-old daughter, looming risk of a financial crisis in the next 12 months, and a giant comet is approaching the Earth. Do you really want to know all of these things?

We live in a hyperconnected world where we want to be informed about everything. But is this negative news making you more informed? Constantly exposing ourselves to this negative news persuades us to believe that the world is not safe and it's getting worse.

But have you ever considered that all of it might not be entirely true? Although we have many serious challenges in front of us like climate change, the obesity epidemic, and the pandemic. The world is not as bad as the news media make us believe.

The world is becoming better; in the past 20 to 30 years, the percentage of people living in extreme poverty has virtually halved; men and women have attended school for approximately the same number of years on average; and more than 80% of people have access to electricity.

We regularly expose ourselves to the news that the media feeds us, and as a result, our perception or worldview changes. We come to incorrect assumptions about the world, which makes us more anxious, pessimistic, and hopeless. We also fail to view the world for what it truly is.

Why we're drawn towards the negative? Our brains are accustomed to leaping to conclusions, which aids us in avoiding immediate risks. So we are built to be drawn to dramatic stories and gossip because those were the only sources of knowledge that helped us survive in the past.

The media leverages this vulnerability and feeds us negative news because they know that negative and dramatic stories grab our attention, not the positive ones. According to data, the probability of negative news getting viral is six times more than a piece of positive news.

How to control the negativity instinct? Expect bad news: The media will continue to broadcast bad news to the public since that is how they make money and attract viewers. Every time you encounter a piece of bad news, consider whether equally good news would have reached you.

Good news is not news: The gradual changes in the economy aren't reported, incremental changes in quality of life are not news, and the same goes for every positive improvement that occurs gradually; they will not find you; you must seek them out.

Things can be better and bad at the same time, The probability of you getting involved in an illegal act is still there, but it is very little as compared to the past and it is improving as we roll forward. This fact-based viewpoint will assist you in maintaining your sanity.