Compassion over Negativity

I need to take some time away from social media. I live in Los Angeles and personally know five people who lost everything in the fires. When I go on social media, I see many people offering support, but then I also see conspiracy theories, politicizing, and blaming. It makes me angry. I end up dwelling on the negative comments and completely missing the positive ones.

This is a classic case of negativity bias—our psychological tendency to focus more on negative experiences, information, or feedback than on positive ones, even when the positives significantly outnumber the negatives. This bias is rooted in human evolution, as focusing on potential threats or problems helped our ancestors survive. However, in modern contexts, it often leads us to give disproportionate weight to negative events or comments, overshadowing the positives.

Instead of swimming in the nonsense on social media, I decided to close the app and walk away. I called some of the people who had suffered a loss. As for me, I choose compassion. I hope we can all understand that conspiracy theories or blaming do nothing to address someone’s needs or improve their situation.

Reflection Question:

How can we practice more compassion and empathy toward others, even when negativity feels overwhelming or pervasive?