It’s not simply the media’s bias — though, as I confessed to Unexplainable’s Meradith Hoddinott, that’s undeniably part of it. After practically 25 years in journalism, I’ve discovered that the press is essentially a watchdog, conditioned to bark loudest when issues go improper. However there’s additionally a deeper motive: our personal negativity bias. People are hardwired to concentrate on threats, an evolutionary adaptation that when stored us alive on the savannah however now leaves us doomscrolling by means of headlines.
Within the Unexplainable episode, Meredith and I explored this psychological quirk, highlighting tales of real progress that normally slip below the radar. Like this one: regardless of fears about rising crime, the homicide charge within the US is doubtlessly on monitor to hit historic lows. And regardless of the worsening results of local weather change and the proliferation of billion-dollar disasters, fewer folks globally died from excessive climate within the first half of 2025 than in any comparable interval on file.
Why highlight developments like these, which may really feel like the other of reports? As a result of focusing solely on what’s damaged can blind us to what’s fixable. Practical optimism isn’t naïve; it’s needed. It fuels the assumption that issues, even monumental ones, are solvable, which in flip conjures up motion. And, as I’ve found writing the Good Information e-newsletter, this optimism can act like armor, serving to us face a difficult, generally scary future with better resilience.
It’s why Good Information felt like a pure outgrowth of our work right here at Future Good, the place above all we wish to seize an correct view of the world as it’s — the unhealthy and the nice. So, give the episode a hear — you’ll hear us break down the science of negativity and the underappreciated energy of hope. And, after all, subscribe to Good Information.
