Are You Needlessly Pessimistic About a Beautiful World?
Cognitive biases can make our lives harder than they have to be.
A few weeks back, I had one of my “episodes.”
I wasn’t fulfilled with my work. The money in my bank wasn’t flowing as steadily as I’d have liked it to. No matter what I said or did, my partner and I never seemed to be on the same page. Online, my views were falling, and no matter how frequently I posted, I couldn’t keep up with the 60k monthly views I otherwise averaged.
Things got so bad I had to get on a call with my therapist.
“When have you last practiced gratitude?” she asked me.
This hit me right where it hurt. Yes, I was going through a rough phase, but I also hadn’t taken out time to appreciate all the good things I still had going on for me.
As if this wasn’t enough, I came across Mark Manson’s recent video, where he talks about something known as “The Blue Dot Effect.”
This is based on the research Harvard psychologists carried out a few years ago. It suggests that our mind is conditioned to look for threats and issues, regardless of how safe or comfortable our environment is. Clipping Chains calls it “Pessimism in a Beautiful World.”
