Ask Lemmy

Ask yourself this on a regular basis: Does what I see happening in my never ending doomfeed reflect the reality of what I see in my everyday surroundings?

Media tends to be negative. News outlets use fear and anger to keep you engaged and manipulate your opinion. It’s a proven and demonstrable psychological tactic. Places like this tend to be populated by people who have been manipulated and are regurgitating and amplifying the negative talking points. Once you stop being one of those people, the self-perpetuating feedback loop of doom becomes very evident, and you begin to understand that it’s a microcosm of very skewed perceptions that don’t reflect the real world.

Is there bad shit happening in the world? Of course. Is there good shit? Absolutely but you’re not going to read nearly as much about it because positive stories don’t generate clicks and revenue. Are there bad people in positions of power and influence? Absolutely. Are there good people pushing back against them? Yes, and again…clicks and revenue.

You are hooked into a device that feeds you mostly negative information, convinces you that there is little to no positivity to be found, and encourages you to spread that message to others. This is the source of your anxiety.

History has shown that people continue to survive and prosper through turbulent times. Governments rise and fall. Borders are drawn and redrawn. Wars break out and then end. New technologies develop, disrupt, and eventually integrate. We take notice, mourn tragedy when appropriate, and get on with our day to day lives.

Society isn’t going to collapse. Put this thing down and go spend the rest of the day on a hiking trail.