How To Save The World: A Step-By-Step Guide
- by XpatAthens
- Thursday, 06 October 2022
We open the news and “Oh no! Not again!” Another disaster, a pandemic, a war, a robbery, and a murder. I used to want to save the world, and now I don’t know how.
Research shows that we are living in the best time for humanity since the first appearance of the human species. This is not hearsay or some wishful thinking, surveys show that indeed the percentage of people living below the poverty line is lower than ever, child mortality, illiteracy, wars are drastically reduced, and more people than ever in history have access to basic goods, our life expectancy has increased, we suffer from less disease and have access to information, education and more freedom than man has ever known.
And although we have recently emerged from a pandemic and wars are raging around us, and environmental disasters continue to occur worldwide, the above statistics continue to apply. So why don’t we see it?
Media. We are bombarded daily with news and news, the vast majority of which are bad or at least disturbing. The wonderful everyday events are usually not even presented and there is a distorted picture of reality because this is what attracts attention.
We are led to believe that deep down the world is going to hell, and that is the widely held view. Our brains are tuned to be able to identify the views that agree with our pre-existing views. The system is called Reticular Activating System and if we have “set” it in this way, it will give us these results. If we feel unlucky, proof will come to us constantly that we are unlucky. If we believe we are not good at something, we will self-affirm. So if we believe that the world is headed for destruction, we will only listen to and process the information that confirms just that.
What cognitive errors intensify the problem in our minds?
Research shows that we are living in the best time for humanity since the first appearance of the human species. This is not hearsay or some wishful thinking, surveys show that indeed the percentage of people living below the poverty line is lower than ever, child mortality, illiteracy, wars are drastically reduced, and more people than ever in history have access to basic goods, our life expectancy has increased, we suffer from less disease and have access to information, education and more freedom than man has ever known.
And although we have recently emerged from a pandemic and wars are raging around us, and environmental disasters continue to occur worldwide, the above statistics continue to apply. So why don’t we see it?
Media. We are bombarded daily with news and news, the vast majority of which are bad or at least disturbing. The wonderful everyday events are usually not even presented and there is a distorted picture of reality because this is what attracts attention.
We are led to believe that deep down the world is going to hell, and that is the widely held view. Our brains are tuned to be able to identify the views that agree with our pre-existing views. The system is called Reticular Activating System and if we have “set” it in this way, it will give us these results. If we feel unlucky, proof will come to us constantly that we are unlucky. If we believe we are not good at something, we will self-affirm. So if we believe that the world is headed for destruction, we will only listen to and process the information that confirms just that.
What cognitive errors intensify the problem in our minds?
- Sadness/Apathy: man has an innate tendency to care and want to help his species, his fellow man, as Rutger Bregman really beautifully describes in his book “Humanity”. But when a man constantly receives messages that show him that bad things are happening around him, he may initially get angry and resist. Later, he sinks into sadness, and often apathy ensues. Apathy is a feeling of helplessness to do anything. This vicious circle robs us of the true power we have and is simply a wrong perspective.
- “If I am responsible for everything, then it’s all my fault.” That’s not the case, we can’t feel bad about everything, good or bad our power is great but not that great.
- I can’t change anything. Also not true. Each of us can actively help as a citizen, as a unit, as a friend, and influence the lives of those around us. Limiting beliefs like this sink us into a sense of helplessness.
- Generalization of the feeling of helplessness in other areas of our life: “Since everything is bad, what do I want and do?”/ “It’s not a good time to change”/ “It’s not a time for dreams”. And our dreams are never present. There is a tendency to exaggerate what we observe as bad and a diminished belief in what we feel we can achieve.
I help outstanding individuals get unstuck from personal fears and limitations and fast-track to the life of their dreams. I specialize in the problems of modern life in urban environments: a job we do not love, dead-end relationships, lethargy, burnout, inability to live in stereotypes, excessive stress, a general feeling of “blockage”, “helplessness” and “entrapment”. For more information about me and my work visit my website.