Things are better than we think they are

Cause for Optimism

Have you ever wished that things were better? Maybe even longing back to a lost time when — surely — things were better than they are today?

Well, maybe things are better, but we aren’t told the full story. Maybe, in fact, the media is painting us an image of the world that just isn’t true. Or at least not accurately reflective of the reality we live in.

You probably know this is true. Alarming headlines simply sell better than feel-good ones and no matter how awful they make us feel, it is really hard to tune them out. Why? Because watching the news — ironically — creates dopamine. In Psychology Today, Loretta G. Breuning Ph.D. explained it like this:

Your brain releases dopamine when it sees a way to meet your needs or avoid harm. The great feeling of dopamine is released when you find information that helps meet your needs. Dopamine connects neurons that wire you to expect more good feelings when you repeat the behavior. We learn to feel good by scanning for information relevant to our survival needs. Of course we have to make decisions about which information to focus on because our bandwidth is limited. The more information-processing capacity you expend on news, the less you have left to process other survival-relevant information.

In other words — we are addicted to the news. And although a seemingly harmless addiction, it ends up having a pretty significant effect on our lives. If you’re one of my American readers, this is true for you more than most others. In fact, fear-mongering in this country is at an all-time high.