Why are people naturally inclined toward negativity?

BlimpGaz

Why are people naturally inclined toward the negative?

Have you ever noticed that it's too easy to become fixated on the negative or become addicted to it and feed off it? Yet one has to work hard to stay positive? Why is that?

Why is human nature and our minds naturally fixated on sliding down into negativity? Why not the other way around? Is there a reason for that?

If you do 9 good things and 1 bad thing, people will remember the bad thing and forget the good things you did. Also, if someone spreads a negative lie about you, people will be quick to believe it, even without any evidence, as though they were eager to believe the worst about you. Why is that?

And of course, the news media feeds off our negativity. They constantly bombard us with the most negative stories that make us see the world in the worst and most negative way - full of stress, conflict and tragedy - never showing us all the good, decent people around us. The media always wants to portray everything in the worst possible light it seems.

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Fcuk you OP!



People just love a good moan about things. The media likes focusing the negatives as part of social conditioning. It keeps us in line and agenda's are fulfilled.

I am NOT

errlloyd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpYnxlEh0c

This is nice

Pilotdude5

I hate people.

Yellowblackbird

Because they are positive they are attracted to the negativity.
Two negatives repel each other.

Ruu

Many people have so much bad that it outweighs the good, all the time. Some of my close friends have taken some shocking knocks in the past few years over and over and I don't know how I would handle it. I takes a while to forget the bad stuff, brain takes a while to forget.

fly_agaric

BlimpGaz wrote: »

Why are people naturally inclined toward the negative?

Have you ever noticed that it's too easy to become fixated on the negative or become addicted to it and feed off it? Yet one has to work hard to stay positive? Why is that?

Why is human nature and our minds naturally fixated on sliding down into negativity? Why not the other way around? Is there a reason for that?

If you do 9 good things and 1 bad thing, people will remember the bad thing and forget the good things you did. Also, if someone spreads a negative lie about you, people will be quick to believe it, even without any evidence, as though they were eager to believe the worst about you. Why is that?

And of course, the news media feeds off our negativity. They constantly bombard us with the most negative stories that make us see the world in the worst and most negative way - full of stress, conflict and tragedy - never showing us all the good, decent people around us. The media always wants to portray everything in the worst possible light it seems.

AFAIR current thinking is that it's a built-in bias in how "we" see things that probably served the good evolutionary purpose of keeping our ancestors alive and well,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_bias

Agricola

Have you seen the state of the country, and the far worse state of many parts of the world? Why wouldnt people be drawn to negativity?

In my experience, people who are pessimistic are realists and the worst that can happen is that they are happily proven wrong, the very odd time.
Constant optimists who chirp away all day long are living in la la land and arent playing with a full deck. Ive worked with a few people like that.

Ok im off to self harm for abit.

I thought it was seen by foreigners as "An Irish Thing"?

Trhiggy83

BlimpGaz wrote: »

Why are people naturally inclined toward the negative?

Have you ever noticed that it's too easy to become fixated on the negative or become addicted to it and feed off it? Yet one has to work hard to stay positive? Why is that?

Why is human nature and our minds naturally fixated on sliding down into negativity? Why not the other way around? Is there a reason for that?

If you do 9 good things and 1 bad thing, people will remember the bad thing and forget the good things you did. Also, if someone spreads a negative lie about you, people will be quick to believe it, even without any evidence, as though they were eager to believe the worst about you. Why is that?

And of course, the news media feeds off our negativity. They constantly bombard us with the most negative stories that make us see the world in the worst and most negative way - full of stress, conflict and tragedy - never showing us all the good, decent people around us. The media always wants to portray everything in the worst possible light it seems.

I can be quite a negative person myself at times and am conscious of it. I honestly think it comes through lifes experiences, as you grow older you see what people in general are really like and to be honest im gonna be negative again here (a lot of people only think of themselves and no one else). I think the negative thoughts come from the fact that people can see that the world is just full of people trying to get their piece of the pie. I myself was not as negative in my teens but over the years i have gained a very negative perspectives on lots of different issues.

I actually dont even watch the news anymore because it is the same news over and over again. The news seems to separate us from reality. We hear there are people starving in africa and we do nothing, if there were people starving two miles down the road would we help?

I see the news now and dont actually take any notice anymore,over time it removes peoples feelings as they have been overloaded everyday with negative stories.Everyday we hear people are killed in the middle east and we take no notice. I remember at one stage in the iraq war, the media would only report in multiples of tens. I remember asking each day, how many were killed today.

Anyway, not too sure i answered any of your queries but its something a lot of people would not have even thought about.

DeanAustin

Does my head in. I've worked with a lot of people and, in many cases, the people at the top haven't been much different from those stuck in the middle except for their attitude.

The lads stuck in the middle are cynics calling themselves realists. A lot of lads at the top are thinking about what they can do. It makes a world of difference. The hurler on the ditch is also inherently negative. Makes them feel all clever because they know why everything is going to fail. F**king poisonous mindset.

I know you can't be a happy spa all the time but it pays to think about what you can do rather than sit around moaning about what can't be done and shooting everyone else down.

1ZRed

I'm very realistic and often people get that confused with being negative

Agricola

Agricola wrote: »

Have you seen the state of the country, and the far worse state of many parts of the world? Why wouldnt people be drawn to negativity?

In my experience, people who are pessimistic are realists and the worst that can happen is that they are happily proven wrong, the very odd time.
Constant optimists who chirp away all day long are living in la la land and arent playing with a full deck. Ive worked with a few people like that.

Ok im off to self harm for abit.

Yep. Or people who are lucky enough to have everything go their way all the time. I used to work with a girl who was obsessed with positivity and would tell us all off for being negative, yet when the first little thing went wrong in her life, she had a meltdown.

I think the trick is to accept that the world is often cr@p and people are often cr@p and find a way to be happy regardless. Not necessarily to be an optimist, but to take the bad stuff, learn from it and move on.

DeanAustin

1ZRed wrote: »

I'm very realistic and often people get that confused with being negative

Ever hear of a self fulfilling prophecy?

Sometimes I think people would rather be right 10 out of 10 times by being negative rather than right 1 time out of 10 by being positive.

Peregrine

1ZRed wrote: »

I'm very realistic and often people get that confused with being negative

Same here.

I get called cold and cynical for being just realistic..and I end up being right. Surely you would think that after so many times people would learn to differentiate between realism and cynicism/negativism.

armaghbhoy

There can never be a day of positives without negative to balance it. We must know the negative to know the positive.

kerry4sam

BlimpGaz wrote: »

Why are people naturally inclined toward the negative?

Have you ever noticed that it's too easy to become fixated on the negative or become addicted to it and feed off it? Yet one has to work hard to stay positive? Why is that?

Why is human nature and our minds naturally fixated on sliding down into negativity? Why not the other way around? Is there a reason for that?

If you do 9 good things and 1 bad thing, people will remember the bad thing and forget the good things you did. Also, if someone spreads a negative lie about you, people will be quick to believe it, even without any evidence, as though they were eager to believe the worst about you. Why is that?

And of course, the news media feeds off our negativity. They constantly bombard us with the most negative stories that make us see the world in the worst and most negative way - full of stress, conflict and tragedy - never showing us all the good, decent people around us. The media always wants to portray everything in the worst possible light it seems.

I don't think all people are naturally inclined toward negativity. Some just see the good and positive; but then after numerous negative encounters, it just gets more difficult to remain positive.

I like to see the good in people, or at least find one positive aspect about every person I encounter, but it's not always easy, particularly if they are only negative, down-beat and have nothing positive ever to say. It just gets more difficult to remain positive with them. Some people feed and live off bad news though, but not everyone! Thankfully!

It's all down to personal experiences though, and personal encounters and circumstances. A positive mind-set is worth a fortune imo. It makes life more enjoyable and interesting

Duggy747

People associate me being realistic as being cold and cynical.

The Kony thing made me out to be a heartless bastard by some because I didn't suddenly develop a keen interest in geo politics and smelt something funny about the whole thing.

Or the usual: "Why are you so negative? Why can't you just accept things?"

.........no.........

Pug160

BlimpGaz wrote: »

Why are people naturally inclined toward the negative?

Have you ever noticed that it's too easy to become fixated on the negative or become addicted to it and feed off it? Yet one has to work hard to stay positive? Why is that?

Why is human nature and our minds naturally fixated on sliding down into negativity? Why not the other way around? Is there a reason for that?

If you do 9 good things and 1 bad thing, people will remember the bad thing and forget the good things you did. Also, if someone spreads a negative lie about you, people will be quick to believe it, even without any evidence, as though they were eager to believe the worst about you. Why is that?

And of course, the news media feeds off our negativity. They constantly bombard us with the most negative stories that make us see the world in the worst and most negative way - full of stress, conflict and tragedy - never showing us all the good, decent people around us. The media always wants to portray everything in the worst possible light it seems.

It all depends on your culture, how you have been brought up, how happy and fulfilled you feel, and many other things. It has been shown (although perhaps not definitively proven) that people who lead a more simple life are happier, such as people who live in rural areas with limited technology.

1ZRed

DeanAustin wrote: »

Ever hear of a self fulfilling prophecy?

Sometimes I think people would rather be right 10 out of 10 times by being negative rather than right 1 time out of 10 by being positive.

I still am a positive person, I've just grown to be realistic in how I see things.

For example I'm going out with someone now who's a bit older than me. This is also my first relationship with a guy so obviously things will more than likely end at some point. That's just being realistic.

Now that said I'm happy to stay going as long as we're having a laugh and I know I'll benefit from this wether it works out or not. I've had a damn good time so far so I'll keep going.

Just because I'm realistic and can see that it probably won't work out doesn't make me negative, in fact I'm being realistic and possitive because I know it's not for nothing and I'm still trying with it instead of seeing it as pointless and giving up.

daithi1970

..sure you have to laugh , because if you didn't laugh, you'd only cry...

daithi

Duckjob

I think positivity and negativity are definitely traits that become habitual with practice.

A quote I really like (as I think it carries a lot of truth) is:

Lao Tzu wrote:

Watch your thoughts, they become words,
Watch your words, they become actions,
Watch your actions, they become habits,
Watch your habits, they become character,
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny.

Latchy

You can look around the world and see some of the terrible things happening ie, people been beating/ burnt alive in Africa , drug cartel massacres of innocents ( and not so innocents) in Mexico , situation in Syria , the exploitation and sexual abuse of young British white girls by Asian Muslims ,The state of the economy ,the government ,the church , the banks, another child abuse /murder story , the state of your neighbourhood and the crime etc and feel negative towards humanity in general so you can really only be positive about things you have control of in your own life .

Pumpkinseeds

I think it's a case of preparing for the worst and hoping for a better outcome.

A kind of innate optimistic realism that takes the edge off chronic disappointment:(

Pug160

1ZRed wrote: »

I'm very realistic and often people get that confused with being negative

Your definition of realistic will be different to another person's though.

I see it like this: if you live in a dog eat dog environment then you're obviously going to be more cynical, although not necessarily more negative. Positive and negative attitudes, dare I say it, arguably comes down to Darwinism. The stronger minded people will be more positive and the less strong perhaps more negative. Dog eat dog environments generally aren't known for their compassion towards the more vulnerable.

Capt'n Midnight

When you go around with rose coloured glasses not worrying about the bad things that could happen it can come back and bite you.


And for most of the last 600 million years that's exactly what happened.

The survivors are naturally paranoid and pessimism can keep you out of trouble and have backup plans in case you need them.