Negative Bias

I'm at a conference presentation on thinking positive. Studies show the brain lights up 5 times more for negative things. A news show tried showing positive news and its ratings went down. They had to switchback to negative news. So do we posters focus on negative slant to get our brain fix?



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No?

snoscythe wrote:
No?

You're so negative. Look at the positive side of negativity.

scott715 wrote:
I'm at a conference presentation on thinking positive. Studies show the brain lights up 5 times more for negative things. A news show tried showing positive news and its ratings went down. They had to switchback to negative news. So do we posters focus on negative slant to get our brain fix?



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Interesting stuff. I have tried to cut out most negative influences of my home life...I don't watch TV anymore, I read a lot more, and in general, I am becoming much happier with with life. There is something to accentuating the positive that leads to happiness. However, that also means you have to have something to stimulate brain activity so you don't die of boredom. For me, I like reading. On a sports forum, it's about having an interesting topic to debate. If there aren't any, we often resort to negative topics just to generate some conversation (and stimulate some brain activity). I personally believe that the reason the negative things light up the brain more is because we immediately begin looking for solutions or try to analyze the situation, which stimulates brain activity. So, rather than focus on negativity, we need to simply solve the more complex problems of BYU football--like what alternative uniforms would look best. ;)

Cougarfan87 wrote:

I'm at a conference presentation on thinking positive. Studies show the brain lights up 5 times more for negative things. A news show tried showing positive news and its ratings went down. They had to switchback to negative news. So do we posters focus on negative slant to get our brain fix?



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Interesting stuff. I have tried to cut out most negative influences of my home life...I don't watch TV anymore, I read a lot more, and in general, I am becoming much happier with with life. There is something to accentuating the positive that leads to happiness. However, that also means you have to have something to stimulate brain activity so you don't die of boredom. For me, I like reading. On a sports forum, it's about having an interesting topic to debate. If there aren't any, we often resort to negative topics just to generate some conversation (and stimulate some brain activity). I personally believe that the reason the negative things light up the brain more is because we immediately begin looking for solutions or try to analyze the situation, which stimulates brain activity. So, rather than focus on negativity, we need to simply solve the more complex problems of BYU football--like what alternative uniforms would look best. ;)

Not Black! (that is all)

Another suggestion is to not watch the news first thing in the morning. Not a good way to start a happy day. Also news is now 24/7, not a good thing.

scott715 wrote:
Another suggestion is to not watch the news first thing in the morning. Not a good way to start a happy day. Also news is now 24/7, not a good thing.

Concur. I like to watch the national news at 5:30--CBS nightly news usually ends on a good note, so that helps.