I have a holiday gift for everyone, with the hope that most people are not conditioned to ignore the benefits being offered. The gift lies in some statistics provided by the Geneva Declaration on Armed Violence and Development. Almost 1400 people a day are intentionally killed in the world. In case you think that’s someone else’s problem, the rate of intentional killing in this country is about four times greater than France, where the Paris attacks occurred.
Right about now you may be thinking I’m pulling a fast one on you. How can anyone be of good cheer when the killings in Paris and San Bernardino are actually a mere drop in the daily bucket? Am I not putting salt in the wounds created by all the recent media reports? Please bear with me, I really am providing a gift related to brain health.
This particular blog post was spurred by the report I heard this past weekend that fear of terrorism is the number one concern of Americans. For the season of holiday giving and good cheer our primary concern is not the hungry or the homeless, not our own brain health or overall health, not our own societal problems, but the rather hopeless fear of harm others might do to us. This is our primary fear, despite the fact that the probability of being harmed by terrorism is quite low, lower than threats to our health, lower than being hungry or homeless, much lower than our existing homicide rates.
Almost 1400 people are intentionally killed in the world every day, yet I have not been the least bit afraid about being killed as I go about daily living here in Norfolk. You could claim that ignorance is bliss, but now that I know the gruesome statistic about how violent our world is I am not one bit more fearful than before. Nor was I more fearful after the Paris or San Bernardino attacks. Indeed recent events prove insignificant as threats compared to the normal level of violence in our society, but neither those statistics nor recent events events make my loved ones in greater danger.
I realize why we have become so fearful of remote harm, rather than concerned about the more immediate threats to our health or society. The same mass media that reports on our fear of terrorism as our biggest concern puts in a herculean effort to cultivate that fear. I also realize why media does that, from having studied our marketing culture, including the completion of a marketing program. The normal person can discern the reliability and validity of dispassionate facts born out of experience. Unfortunately, those in the business of selling anything from insurance to ideas are instructed early and often that emotion trumps facts.
This includes the selling of news. Consequently, the most watched mass media news venues will not be the ones that best deliver news, but the ones that best cultivate emotions. Fear is a terrific emotion for selling stuff, including news. A corporate media news venue would be irresponsible to shareholders if they did not do their best to cultivate fear. This same reality is not lost on politicians, think tanks and other interest groups. Be forewarned: an election year is coming.
Here’s the kicker. Your brain health, your overall health, your happiness all depend in large part upon your emotions. The irony that lies behind mass media news coverage is that by cultivating fear they are doing you more certain harm than the remote threat of terrorism. The irony does not stop there. The most successful mass media news venues are, by method of how they succeed, the most harmful to you … and to society as a whole. For a fearful society most certainly will be a more violent society.
This is not to say we should not be concerned about anything this holiday season, but rather there are concerns that are better for your brain health. Various researchers across the country, unconnected to mass media, politicians or think tanks, have discovered that generosity is good for stress, good for brain health, good for overall health. Whether or not mass media has led you to believe that the hungry and homeless should be a primary concern, the reality of how you are hardwired is that you will feel better if you take steps to help them, rather than fear for our safety.
This is why to “Be of Good Cheer” should not be just a seasonal call. Happiness and kindness are tightly related. They feed into each other. Being of good cheer will increase your kindness; being kind will increase your good cheer. Both in turn will increase your brain health, overall health and happiness.
My holiday gift amounts to no more than a simple piece of advice. Let go of your fear of the remote. Concern yourself with others over the holidays. Do something for them, thereby doing something for your health. When the New Year comes make a resolution to ignore the most successful mass media news venues. Ignorance is indeed bliss in the context of a marketing culture. You can glean from local news sources all you need to know to make your life better, as well as the lives of others around you.
If you really want to do yourself a lasting favor, tune out the mass media election coverage over the coming year. Become informed about the candidates through Wikipedia and other dispassionate sources. Through such forbearance will you benefit the health of both you and society.
