Friday, June 22, 2012

Great Analogy

Reddit had an "Ask Me Anything" with Matt, from 'Where in the World is Matt', a video made by a guy who dances all around the world. This was my favorite part of the question series.


Q: Have these experiences given you a better outlook on humanity as a whole? A lot of the news we hear about far off places is pretty depressing, for some reason.

A: Definitely!
The thing is, you hear about the noisy stuff.

Ever heard the expression "man bites dog?" I won't explain it here, but it's that. It's sort of a general misunderstanding about the way media works and what it's for.

The media isn't actually designed to give you an accurate picture of what the world is like. It's just telling you when shit is going down. It's exactly like a nervous system. Your body doesn't tell you about the parts that aren't hurting.

What I've found is really going on right now is this: the world is less violent, more open, and more healthy than it's ever been in the history of civilization. Our brains just aren't designed to see things that way. 

Controversial opinion, I know. Look up a guy named Steven Pinker

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