I was fortunate enough to watch a recent Kurzgesagt animation, the link for which I share below should you wish to check it out for yourself (and I encourage you to do so). If you aren’t already familiar Kurzgesagt, is a YouTube channel which I guess to be aimed at a younger audience but regardless is very useful for explaining scientific and mathematical concepts to non scientists and mathematicians, regardless of age, such as myself.
This video focuses on a message of hope regarding positive progress made in respect of global efforts on climate change. The primary message, however, is that despair and apathy, whilst an understandable human response to seemingly overwhelming hopelessness, is the absolute worst possible action. Seeing no hope means that we stop trying to make things better and that we may even stop seeing the world as a place in which we might hope to raise children. Nihilism can creep in and take root, and we stop caring for ourselves and for others as well as we might, or as well as we should.
There are undeniably some very significant and very real challenges in the world, but unless you look carefully, it is easy to see nothing but the worst of all the possible worst outcomes everywhere. Our evolutionary wiring makes us prioritise negative inputs, which is a good quality to have believe it or not, as it is a significant factor to the survival and success of our species. But this predisposition is struggling in the face of modern information technology. The more stressed and worried we become the more we find ourselves compelled to return to news sources to check how much worse things might be. The sources invariably suggest something somewhere is getting worse and is really dangerous and needs your attention. This makes us feel worse, and even more worried, even more anxious.
It is a psychological trap that we can be completely caught in.
The consequence of this is that we can fall to despair, questioning the purpose to anything, give up our dreams and aspirations and take worse care of ourselves than we normally do. We will need something we can rely on to change our state and make us feel better for a while which for most of us will be food, alcohol or drugs and none of which offer a long term sustainable solution.
So what can we do?
We need to consciously and deliberately find positive information to nourish ourselves with. There are sources of reliable information about good things in the world and you should make sure you balance the “regular” news sources you follow with some of these. You should also keep returning your awareness to your immediate environment, your home, your family, your town, to things that you can work to improve if you need to. Make a deliberate list of things that you can and will take action on to try and improve in your life and work to that. Even if its simply picking up the leaves in your garden, or some litter from a local park, or making sure you eat one additional healthy meal per week.
This doesn’t mean ignoring the challenges that we face because that won’t help us prepare for times of real trouble, but despair is not going to help any aspect of your life or the lives of those you love.
Take conscious control over the quality of the inputs in your life that you can. Be curious, fire your imagination, dare to live with courage and maybe even with love.
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