Negativity bias

"The same neurohormonal chemistry that evolved to get us away from charging lions is locked and loaded today when we feel the least bit threatened." Rick Hanson, PhD

Negativity bias is the hardwiring we as humans have to fixate on bad news.  Negative encounters leave a stronger impression because they cause a more intense reaction.  Negative political ads (and haven't we in America been bombarded by those?!) work because it is easier to form a bad opinion about an unknown person than to form a good opinion.  But there is hope.  We can change the hardwiring of our brains, although not without conscious effort.  We can train our brains to become attuned to positive information and positive observations about other people.  Dr. Hanson recommends noticing something positive and then savoring it for 10 seconds.  The noticing can be as simple as "the stars are beautiful" or "this soup tastes great".  Doing this several times a day will retrain our brains to be more positive and to notice more positive details.