Reasons to Be Cheerful (Ep. 417 Rebroadcast)

快乐的理由(Ep. 417转播)

Freakonomics Radio

社会与文化

2021-08-19

52 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

Humans have a built-in “negativity bias,” which means we give bad news much more power than good. Would the Covid-19 crisis be an opportune time to reverse this tendency?

单集文稿 ...

  • Hey there, Steven Dubner.

  • Do you ever find yourself in an endless cycle of negative thinking?

  • If so, congratulations.

  • You're normal.

  • At least that's what the psychologists tell us today on the show, an episode we first published in May 2020 during a particularly bad moment in the COVID pandemic.

  • It's called reasons to be cheerful.

  • A few things have changed since we first put out this episode, so we will provide updates at the end.

  • Also, we are working on a follow up to this episode about negativity in the media.

  • You should hear that one sometime in the next month or so.

  • And make sure you listen to the very end of this episode, because we have an important announcement about a new show.

  • Yes, another new show in the Freakonomics radio network.

  • But for now, here you go.

  • Reasons to be cheerful.

  • This episode is not about the Covid-19 epidemic.

  • Unless you think it is.

  • You'll understand what I mean as we proceed.

  • Let's start with a longtime journalist.

  • I'm John Tierney.

  • For years, Tierney wrote for the New York times.

  • He and I actually worked together there for a few years, but way before that, when he was just starting out.