Negativity DNA

The bias toward bad news is hard wired. We use negative information to protect ourselves against life’s dangers. Floods, fires, and tornados put our brains on high alert. Destructive aftermath moves us to find ways to help, with a sense that any of us could be victims next time. However in the age of 24 hours TV and internet this tendency is often manipulated by the media to drive rating and increase clicks. 

This constant exposure to such bad news also makes us misplacing the importance of such events. For example a news about plane crash would likely locked up the attention of the whole nation for days if not weeks. Yes flying has some risk but the risk is lower than death due to car accident.  It is estimated that the odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 9,821.  For a better perspective, that is 1 fatal accident per 16 million flights.  Whereas the odds of dying in a car crash are approximately 1 in 114. However any news of plane crash would be rated "very important" that we misplace the risk of car accident as of lower rate.

It seems that we are at the mercy of the media in terms of defining the importance of the news we see on TV or internet. It is obviously dangerous to watch TV or social media mindlessly. At least we need to do our own homework to check the fact, the hear the balancing arguments, etc. But of course no one wants to do hard works when all the want is entertainment. 

Some would have made up their own opinions that they would just disregards anything that would argue the opposite. In this situation these people would select opinions that would strengthen their own opinion. Of course this is another bias. But anyhow it is clear that we do have our own agendas when we hear news or read social media. 

I understand that media editors find it hard to create a clickable headline from the fact that “John Doe is fine and dandy for the 3578th consecutive day and nothing is new.”  We all wants to enjoy our life. This pleasant view of the world, we unconsciously create a light background on which the negative news stands out even more prominently.