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Jun 1, 2020 โ€ข 23 tweets โ€ข 4 min read โ€ข Read on X
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—•๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐˜€ (Thread)

Have you wondered why news coverage is predominantly negative?

Have you noticed that we dwell on the unpleasant and traumatic events much more than pleasant ones? Image
We tend to remember that one negative comment or insult more clearly than the other hundreds of compliments.

We replay arguments in our head, overthinking what we should have said.

We vividly remember our mistakes and embarrassing moments. Even if they happened ages ago.
Here's the thing.

The survival of our ancestors depended on their skill of avoiding danger.

They had to always be on the lookout for threats and react instantly. Paying attention to negative stuff was literally a matter of life and death.
Those who were attuned to danger and paid more attention to bad things around them were more likely to survive. And pass on their genes.

So our brains evolved to respond much more โ€” emotionally and physically โ€” to averse stimuli.
The Negativity Bias is our tendency to give much more psychological weight to bad experiences than good experiences.

That's why people will do much more to avoid pain than seek pleasure.

Thatโ€™s why urgencies and deadlines are such good motivators.
Bad emotions, bad parenting and negative feedback have more impact than good ones.

We are more motivated to avoid โ€œbadโ€ self-definitions than to seek good ones.
In a way, our negativity bias also makes us more prone to other cognitive biases.

Focusing on negative stuff activates our sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system.

In such a situation the reptilian brain gains more influence, making you act irrationally.
The negativity bias manifests as loss aversion in behavioral economics.

To most people, losing something feels worse than gaining the same thing.
When people are given a choice of picking between a โ€œguaranteed $20โ€ or โ€œ25% probability of getting $100โ€, most will pick the former.

Even though it makes logical sense to pick the latter.

(Look up Prospect Theory to dig deeper into this.)
When itโ€™s about taking a risk, we focus more on all that could go wrong, versus all that might go well.

Our brain is wired to play it safe. Back in the days, taking a risk could literally result in death.

But today we face no such dangers. We need to rewire our brains.
Here are a few ideas to tackle the Negativity Bias:

๐—”๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€

The first step towards overcoming our cognitive biases is to acknowledge them and become more self-aware.
By being mindful of the negativity bias, you can consciously choose to ignore the false alarms and realize when youโ€™re needlessly dwelling on something unpleasant.

You already know how you can become more mindful and self-aware. Make meditation a non-negotiable habit.
๐—ฆ๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€

Our brain is like velcro for negative experiences, but teflon for positive ones.

Negative experiences are quickly registered and stored in our emotional memory (Thatโ€™s why โ€œonce burned, twice shyโ€).
But most positive experiences pass through the brain like water through a sieve, unless they are very novel or intense.

So you need to build up your store of positive mental images to address the imbalance the negativity bias predisposes you to.

Learn to be more present.
When you have a positive experience, engage all your senses and soak it in. Even if itโ€™s something insignificant.

The longer you hold something in your awareness, the stronger itโ€™s imprinted in your memory.
๐—š๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ฒ

Since we mostly tend to remember the negative stuff, itโ€™s important that we take some time out to think of all the stuff weโ€™re grateful for.

The idea is to make it a habit.
It could be as simple as consciously thinking and feeling grateful for all the good things in your life just before you go to sleep.

Gratitude has been proven to increase happiness, reduce anxiety & depression, strengthen the immune system, improve sleep. Big list of benefits.
๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฌ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐— ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฑ

Recognize that you can consciously and intentionally control where youโ€™re putting your attention. Itโ€™s your most valuable asset.

The things you decide to give your attention to not only influence how you feel, but also how you perform.
We construct our internal reality by the way we direct our attention.

More often than not, our minds will focus on the negative aspects of any situation.

And if we constantly focus on the negatives, our perception will get reshaped into seeing negatives in everything.
Thatโ€™s why it is important to train our brains to look at the bright side of things.

So that it can counterbalance our negativity bias.

And itโ€™s a skill. It takes effort and deliberate practice to learn to put our attention where it serves us best.
๐—˜๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜†

Yes, we need to cultivate more positivity in our life. But we are far more influenced by negative things than positive things.

So eliminating the negative stuff should get priority.
Cut out toxic people from your life.

Curate your news and social media feeds to remove sources of constant negativity.

Keep your environment clean.

Avoid arguments.

All little things add up
The negativity bias shows up in every area of our life โ€” mental health, relationships, business, career. And it influences all our decisions.

Hope you understand how important it is to actively tackle this problem.

Onwards and Upwards.

โ€ข โ€ข โ€ข

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More from @kunaaaaaal

Jun 10, 2021
When I first came across Metta (loving-kindness) meditation, it seemed very... woo? wishy-washy?

I looked it up on YT, and it basically involved cultivating loving emotions towards yourself and others

"Yeah, this doesn't really look like meditation, seems forced and artificial"
It did not fit my preconceived notions of what "meditation" should be like. So I dismissed it.

A couple of years later, I saw John Vervaeke discuss Metta in his brilliant lecture series. And it woke me up to what Metta is actually about.

Dr. Vervaeke offers an existential interpretation of Metta.

He says love is not an emotion or feeling, it's an existential mode. It's a way of being. It's a way of knowing and being known. It's a commitment to a way of life with someone.
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Mar 6, 2021
Understanding Anger (๐š๐š‘๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š)

Anger is a misunderstood emotion. Society often paints it in a negative light. And there's a sense of shame attached to feeling angry.

But there are no wrong emotions. Every emotion provides us valuable information and guidance. [1/13]
Anger is our body's adaptive mechanism to make us aware and respond to an unmet need.

The need could be concrete โ€” like a promotion, a relationship, or more money. Or it could be abstract โ€” like the need to be understood, or the need to be respected.
An unmet need could also reflect a sense of injustice. Something is wrong, according to your values, and you need to make it right.

Anger acts as a stimulant. It causes a rise in dopamine levels, flushes the skin, and increases the heart rate.
Read 14 tweets
Jan 3, 2021
Doing Nothing (๐š๐š‘๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š) โ€” On building a better relationship with your self
Trust is one of the fundamental prerequisites for love.

So if we're striving for self-love, we first need to be able to trust ourselves. And trust is built on truth.
Now we can't really lie to ourselves. It's not possible to simply make yourself "believe" something, especially if your mind knows it's not the truth.

But we can obfuscate the truth. We are naturally brilliant at self-deception, at bullshitting ourselves.
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Oct 18, 2020
We are all narcissists โ€” A (๐š๐š‘๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š) on overcoming the need for external validation
"Don't worry about what other people think" is useless advice (well-intended though).

Try this โ€” don't think of a pink rhinoceros. Were you successful?
Deliberate attempts to suppress certain thoughts only make them more likely to surface.

When you tell yourself "stop thinking about X!", the mind monitors all your thoughts and brings anything that revolves around "X" to your awareness.

This is called the Ironic process theory.
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Sep 27, 2020
How Meditation Alters the Brain (๐š๐š‘๐š›๐šŽ๐šŠ๐š)

Here's how meditation changes the brain โ€” structurally and functionally
For a long time, I dismissed meditation as spiritual woo-woo.

How could closing your eyes and focusing on your breathe or thoughts or whatever make any difference?

To my "rational" (and ignorant) mind, it made no sense.
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So for over a year, I've meditated almost daily. I'm not going to talk about the (life-changing) benefits I've experienced. Because your mileage may vary.
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We know what we need to do to get where we want to.

We know the things that we need to avoid and cut out.

But when it comes to making things happen, we often fail to follow-through and give in to our temptations.
We fail to win these battles because in that moment we lack the required willpower to overcome the resistance.

Imagine what your life would look like if you had the ability to avoid all distractions and check off everything on your to-do list.
You wouldn't be a slave to your urges and feelings.

You'd be able to prioritize the things that are truly important to you.

You'd have freedom in the true sense.

But we can't just think our way into increased willpower. It's not a question of "mental grit".
Read 35 tweets

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