It’s so easy to find yourself reacting to things happening in the world around you. Most of us will have experienced unique challenges over the last few years and there’s clearly a lot of negativity and division out there. It can be hard to get away from it and sometimes, it just feels like there’s no good news.

Let’s take a close look at what’s going wrong, so we can find solutions.

Without getting too negative, let’s take a look at what we’re dealing with. The news is often full of things we don’t want to hear. Wars, political crises and staggering rises in the cost of living are just of few of the things we’re presented with.

To make it worse, we’re constantly bombarded with venomous debates, dire warnings and demands. Over the last decade, politics both sides of the Atlantic have left us deeply divided and more militant approaches to seeking social justice haven’t made the world a more harmonious place.

It feels like there’s conflict everywhere, with a seemingly endless line of people telling you exactly how you should think and what could happen if you don’t agree with them. I think it says a lot that I have written all of this without referencing the alarming changes to our environment and the clear risks of climate change.

So that’s the negativity out the way. This post isn’t here to depress you, as I honestly believe that there are still reasons to be optimistic and a simple awareness of what’s happening can make a huge difference.

We’ve already identified two key areas we urgently need to address. We need to be mindful of the bad news that arrives in our world and the opinions and views we’re subjected to.

We’ll start off by exploring whether we really are living in the darkest of days, or if something else is influencing the way we see things. We’ll then look where all the negativity enters the world around us and what we can do about it.

As always, I’ll then leave you with three easy things to help you deal with the problems of the world.

Are things really that bad?

I think a quick review of the last hundred years or so will help put things in perspective. Since the start of the 20th century, humanity has faced two world wars, a major pandemic (in 1918) and violent revolutions that lead to the rise of communism. Millions of lives were lost and there was clearly deep division. This then lead to the Cold War, and the ongoing threat of nuclear annihilation.

This stalemate didn’t deliver peace though, as conflicts in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and now Ukraine have all been witnessed on our TV screens.

This last bit is really significant for me. If we take the example of Vietnam, the newspaper articles and radio broadcasts that kept everyone updated in World War Two were replaced with graphic images on the nightly news. This lead to the round-the-clock coverage of the first Gulf War, where the public were introduced to the surreal sight of actually watching the bombs hit their targets. Recently, we’ve watched conflicts in Afghanistan, Libya and Ukraine up-close and very personal.

This is just an example, as the way the media has evolved has unquestionably changed the way we see the world. Just take a second to think about how differently you would react to distant, filtered coverage of a conflict instead of constant images and commentary.

Within my lifetime, the news has evolved from structured and formal half-hour updates, at set times in the day, to entire channels packing the 24 hours they cover with content. This has inevitably lead from the straightforward reporting of events to seeming endless debate and analysis from various ‘experts’.

It’s also significant that the news used to be delivered in very specific places. You turned on the TV, tuned in the radio or picked up a newspaper. I don’t need to tell you that’s different now. We have devices all around us.

I think the key thing we carefully need to consider is that throughout history, people have always had to deal with immense challenges in the world around them. The difference now is that there has never been a point in history where they were constantly reminded about them.

To make things worse, we’re also subjected to rapidly declining standards of journalism and even worse, fake news. There are so many voices, so many agendas and so many ways to get to you.

The main thing that concerns me is that so much of this news, real or otherwise, is just so negative.

The problem with the news

Now we’ve established that we’re at a pretty unique point in history, we need to look at the effect this can have on us. It’s natural to assume that this is just news and that we’re detached from it.

Let’s face it, watching coverage of an earthquake somewhere is sure to be completely different from being in an actual earthquake. Studies have indeed suggested that one may have a more significant effect on us, but it’s not the one you think.

A 2013 study at UCI (University of California, Irvine) focussed on the effect the Boston Marathon bombing had on witnesses, and it uncovered something incredible. It suggested that those who had witnessed the extended coverage on TV were more impacted than those who were there. If you think about it, it makes sense.

If we take the example of disasters, people are often preoccupied by reaching safety or assisting others. They are unlikely to witness the entire event as well and often share the experience with other people.

If we look at the years between 1914 and 1920, where the world faced the horror of large-scale, mechanised warfare and a deadly pandemic, there’s something very significant. People weren’t made to witness these horrors and re-live them on an hourly basis. Just imagine for a second what that would be like with today’s media and all our technology.

While there are obvious advantages of a free press, highlighting key issues and keeping us informed, there’s an obvious flip-side.

Our media also has a common objective, to make money or justify funding. There will almost certainly be an intention to gain views, increase the audience and keep people engaged behind all the content we consume as well.

Before we even consider fake news and propaganda, we’re faced with a bigger problem.

More technology, more channels and more options mean that it’s really easy to choose the news you consume. It’s now possible to surround yourself with views and opinions you agree with. There’s already a huge divide that if left unchecked, will only get bigger.

Personally, I don’t think we can really call it news now. It just seems like an endless cycle of arguments, opinion and at times, scaremongering.

Let’s leave that here, as it’s getting pretty dark. There is a positive though, as no one is forcing you to engage with all of this. You have a choice, and we’ll explore that as we go on.

Before I do this, I’d like to remind you of the two areas I’d like to focus on, the bad news that arrives in our world and the opinions and views we’re subjected to. You may feel we’ve covered both of these, but I’m afraid there’s a lot more when it comes to the second part of this.

Opinion and views

I think it’s safe to say we’ve uncovered a few issues here. Times and technology have changed, so we’re surrounded by news and it’s often very negative. To make things worse, objective reporting has given way to endless commentary and conflict. We’re now essentially watching people talk about the news.

I’ve deliberately sidestepped something that casts a long and dark shadow over all of this, social media.

Like the internet, it’s often hard to remember what life was like before social media. The obvious thing for me to do here is to attack it, but I actually appreciate social media. It helps me connect with people, reach new audiences and it acts as my window on the world.

I think that last part is really important. Although social media is often blamed for a lot of the problems we face today, and I’m definitely not saying this isn’t true to some extent, it is a window on our world. It reflects everything around us as individuals. It’s the people, brands and organisations we’ve chosen to connect with and it shows us what we’re interested in.

As I’ve said with the mainstream media though, the organisations behind these channels have very clear intentions. They want to increase their metrics, sell advertising and in many respects, sell you, or at least your data and preferences.

I’m also aware that you can’t always control who you interact with either, so you’re likely to see things and be exposed to views you really don’t agree with.

We’re often presented with a very misleading window on the world on social media. It’s so easy to forget that we’re seeing everyone’s airbrushed highlight reel. The best bits, the way they choose to present them.

We forget about the importance of running our own race and fall prey to endless comparisons and self-criticism. Like most things related to mental health though, when we’re aware of something we can do something about it.

I think it’s safe to say that when compared to the mainstream media, social media is a more personal experience that can have a very narrow focus. This can easily lead to bullying and threats. The most sinister aspect for me is how it often appears that people are essentially threatening others and forcing them to agree with them.

Another huge problem is that these two monsters often join forces, and we begin to lose control. News and articles start to appear on our social media feeds. We don’t always get to choose this either, as the dreaded algorithms are presenting the things the social media companies want us to see. I’ll let you work out the intention here.

These again put us in new, unexplored territory. Unless we objectively scrutinise every bit of information presented to us, we can easily be mislead or provoked. This is now the window on the world a lot of people are looking through.

Recent examples, such as social media posts claiming to be coverage of the Ukrainian conflict are the perfect example of this. Videos appearing to show a Ukrainian pilot shooting down multiple Russian aircraft were revealed to be clips of a computer simulation. This was very worrying, and it really highlights the issues we face here.

Before we move on, I’d like you to think back on that period of time we explored before. I’d like you to imagine what the years from 1914 to 1920, World War 1 and the Spanish Flu, would be like with social media. Imagine all the debates, personal accounts and endless noise as people reacted to what was happening around them. How would you feel? What would have happened if the British public also saw images of the Germans decisively winning the battle of the Somme, that were later found to be faked?

Now we’ve explored what’s happening, lets think about how we can respond to it.

Responses

I’ve come to an important realisation. It’s not a debate anymore. Seriously, when did you last encounter someone changing their minds?

Whether it’s a debate on TV, a furious argument on X or an article, when did you last witness someone reacting to another point of view? Everything we’ve explored is encouraging us to become entrenched in our own world view, and I think that’s the root of the problem.

I remember the time when I attended a presentation for a new book publication in early 2008. It focussed on international relations and conflict resolution, and it proposed the notion that we would eventually have to talk to the Taliban. Despite a reasoned argument, drawing examples from similar conflicts, it wasn’t met with agreement from the audience. People just couldn't accept this at the time.

Not only did this end up happening though, it also helped shape the way I would approach any differences of opinion in future.

As I’ve said on the site before, life has shown me that it’s so important to understand the other person’s position. This doesn't mean you have to agree with it, or accept it though. Just identifying what motivates them to take their view can play a huge part in reaching an understanding, if it’s possible to do so.

This is something we just don’t see enough of in the world around us.

Recently, I’ve found my own way of addressing this. I try to create a helpful balance on my news and social feeds. I want to hear other opinions, so I can understand them. I also enjoy speaking to people with different religious and political views, so I can gain an understanding and put my own views and beliefs to the test.

For me, it’s all about remaining respectful, open and interested. As the famous talk-show host Larry King once said, “I never learned anything while I was talking”. This is something I always try to remember.

I work hard to avoid becoming entrenched in my beliefs and ruthlessly defending them against perceived attacks. By being open-minded and carefully considering everything around me, some of my beliefs have also changed in response to other viewpoints. I think this is a good thing.

I’ve done my best to put my ego aside and the way I feel now is surely better than ‘winning’ a conflict or ‘deleting’ someone.

I also think it’s important to keep educating yourself. A lot of the conflicts and disagreements we come across are often caused by ignorance. The failure to fully understand a subject, the unwillingness to tolerate someone or simply act in a civilised and respectful manner.

My advice, be different. All I ask is that you simply consider the approaches I’ve presented above. I honestly believe it can help you deal with the problems of the world.

That’s not THE answer though, as I’d like to offer some practical solutions and then finish with three easy things you can do right now.

Solutions

So let’s recap on what we’ve explored.

There’s more bad news around us than ever. This can make things appear worse than they really are and we now know that it can have a serious impact on you if you’re not careful. We’re also aware that we have control over the content we consume and it’s a good idea to keep everything balanced.

I’ll make it easy for you, watch NHK Japan. This is the Japanese news network and I love it. They do things the old fashioned way, by delivering the news in an objective and informed manner. No hysteria and very little commentary, you just hear about what’s going on in the world. Their programming is also full of some lovely shows that focus on travel, crafts and human stories that are sure to make you feel better.

We’ve also explored how the constant arguments, opinion and views can really drain you. We can choose to take a more mindful approach to this though and focus on what we can control and what needs our attention. We can also think carefully about whether we need to engage in an argument. The importance of education over ignorance has hopefully been highlighted as well.

I’d like to make it clear though that none of this is about accepting or tolerating bad behaviour. It’s just about controlling your response to it. For me, it’s about setting an example and showing others the clear value of our approach. 

The bullies that hide behind the anonymity of social media are unlikely to change their views and behaviour if confronted, but they are likely to represent the minority. We just need to show the majority the right way to do things. We can set an example, we can start to make positive ripples in the water.

We can now put three easy things in place to help you deal with the problems of the world: 

• Be aware of where news arrives in your world and work to find the right balance 

• Remember that you control the way you react to views and options

• Set the right example to other people

Before I go, I’d just like to head back to something I mentioned at the start, the environment. I’ve left this right until the end as it’s so important to address it in terms of what we’ve covered. Although I’ve presented a view that it’s really just the way we present the problems of the world that has changed, this is different. This is unlike anything we’ve faced before.

I don’t think we will solve the problems relating to climate change by allowing only the loudest voices to be heard. We certainly don’t want to see anyone ‘canceled’ for stating facts and we definitely need everyone to be listening and be prepared to change their views if necessary. 

I honestly believe that everything we’ve just covered will be critical in the years ahead. Work to improve your world, and you could then start to change the world.