Good News!
Good news: I’ve had it with being what is now called being “realistic”.
I’ve had it with seeing the glass half empty.
I hope that you too can find Good News that will set you free from the self-fullfilling trap called pessimism.
It’s time for me and to see that the glass is also half full.
It’s time “realistic” is acknowledged as a bias our primate brain has to over focus on the negative as it tryed to survive in a savage world by giving more value to bad news than good news.
It’s time to recognize that this primitive evolutionary trait is backfiring on us and decreasing, not increasing, our odds of survival.
Now I am not talking denial. Or being a Pollyanna.
I mean that if we only expose ourselves to bad news we will believe that’s all there is.
I mean that we must recognize that the media needs to make money, and most of us have our primate brain in charge most of the time, the way to make money is to sell bad news, because good news just does not sell as well.
This means the ratio of good news to bad news we hear bears no relation to what is actually happening.
That is why today we are focusing on only Good News: to address this imbalance and give your poor brain and poor heart a chance to breath and know that, in spite of the big, big mess are in, life IS good and can be even better…and even if the odds look low – they still exist.
So, without further adieu – here are some Good News Links and sample stories.
The Daily Climate https://www.dailyclimate.org/Good-News/
A Vancouver-based company is betting on mushroom mycelium as a sustainable protein source, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of traditional meat production.
Friendlier https://www.friendlier.com/blog/the-best-sources-for-environmental-news-in-canada
They give you links to a long list of good news sites.
The National Observer – only Solutions https://www.nationalobserver.com/sections/climate-solutions-reporting
Sonia Vinogradova is helping small farmers gain more energy independence. This 25-year-old woman from Montreal and her business partner, Joe Workentin, broke new ground, persuading regulators to allow solar panels on the BeetBox Co-op Farm’s barn. The panels will supply 20 per cent of the farm’s electricity.
Corporate Knights https://www.corporateknights.com/
Trump 2.0 could have some unintended upsides for the energy transition
Trump may say climate change is a hoax, but he can’t stop the economic logic behind renewables.
The Narwhal – only Solutions https://thenarwhal.ca/topics/solutions/
After 50 years of contemplating an airport for Pickering, Ont., the Canadian government will instead use the land to expand Rouge Urban National Park.
The Good News Network https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
A local entrepreneur in Tanzania is clearing two hurdles in one leap by transforming old cement bags into backpacks that include a small solar panel to power a reading light.
Positive News https://www.positive.news/
Restoration is helping native raptors thrive in Scotland. During 2022 and 2023 the team recorded a 100% survival rate for its hen harrier nests. The golden eagle has also increased in numbers in the region – from four breeding pairs in 2021 to seven in 2023. And 2021 saw two pairs of goshawk, previously persecuted to extinction in the UK, breed successfully on WildLand for the first time.
Happy Eco News https://happyeconews.com/
In field trials across Italy, researchers tested various combinations of two biofertilizer types: microbial solutions containing beneficial fungi and bacteria and nutrient-rich algal preparations. The results definitively showed that natural fertilizers increase yields, with the most effective treatment combining both fertilizer types to produce 67.2 tons of tomatoes per hectare—significantly outperforming untreated control plots that yielded 26 tons per hectare.
Enough of that. I now want to emphasize who vital it is for us to be exposed to MORE Good News than Bad News. This is not about avoiding reality, its about allowing our poor brains to operate optimally. We also need to know that over time the ration of bad news to good news has increased as made clear here [1]:
A recent study by David Rozado and colleagues published in PLOS One found that the “proportion of headlines denoting anger, fear, disgust and sadness” grew markedly in the US between 2000 and 2019.
Furthermore, much of news on Social Media is either wrong, a lie or so twisted as to be untrue. [1]
According to a Pew Center poll, A little under half (48%) of U.S. adults say they get news from social media “often” or “sometimes,” with Facebook and Twitter being the primary sources, both of which have been criticized heavily for their misinformation and fake news.
Then we need to add this psychological fact: bad news spreads much faster than good news. [1]
“Although people produce much more positive content on social media in general, negative content is much more likely to spread,”. The results of the study are troubling because of social media’s infectious aspect. What users of technology platforms see not only affects their emotions but also can create “massive-scale contagion” in which people exposed to negative content create more of the same.
We have the additional psychological problem of the Availability Heuristic. [1]
If you routinely read political news and are reading about corrupt politicians, and war, you can start to believe that all politicians are dishonest and warmongers. For example, a regular news viewer might believe that crime is increasing since crime is receiving a lot more negative press. Yet, an examination of the statistics shows that crime is decreasing in many cities.
In other words if we only expose ourselves to bad news we will be convinced that there is a 100% probability that the world is going to Hell in hand basket. The fact is that although may be true, it is not certainty. An even more powerful reason to expose yourself to Good News – and do Good Acts – is that the future is partially a self-fullfilling prophecy. Simply put, it we all give up because it’s “Hopeless” – then it become Hopeless!
I think you get the point. So what can you DO? Read more Good News than Bad News. DO Good Things with Good People…. all the while being realistic. A good example of realism is Ms Welch [2] who moved from LA suburbia years ago because she figured it was only a matter of time before a disastrous fire erupted – as it did. She was not being negative because she took positive action in the face her knowledge. We need to do the same. We are not pawns. We are not victims. But the key to keeping our Agency is to include Good News in your life every day.
1. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-we-seem-prefer-bad-news-over-good-ray-williams/
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g334eppm7o
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