“The bad stuff is easier to believe. You ever notice that?” --Julia Roberts, "Pretty Woman", 1990
I like “end of the world” movies and TV shows and books.
These are the stories that always end with…well…the immediate or the threatened or the possible or the definite end of the world. My favorites are hard to choose. There’s “The Day After Tomorrow” a 2004 “climate change gone crazy” movie starring the then heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal as a teen falling in love, while also battling super subzero temps. Everything freezes all over the world in something like two days. Earth as a popsicle. That about sums it up.
There’s also “The Stand,” the 1978 post-apocalyptic novel by Stephen King that tells of an epic battle between good and evil, God and the devil, in aftermath of a world killing flu pandemic. The uncut and complete edition of this book weighs in at 1,152 pages, but even so I’ve read it cover to cover four times, the last when I was recovering from hip replacement surgery in the midst of this pandemic. No doubt I will read it at least one more time before my personal end of the world story comes true.
Why my gruesome fascination with the end of the world, end times, the apocalypse, Armageddon? I’m not sure. There is the page turning drama inherent in such tales: what could be more at stake than all of life itself? Since such stories can be very, very far-fetched (like every single zombie apocalypse movie ever made!) they do offer complete escape from a world of hurt, especially in times like these.
But the real reason I crave such tales may come from something called the negativity bias. That’s the human habit of responding to negative information and experiences much more quickly and powerfully than to positive information and experiences. We homo sapiens tend to lean towards the depressing. Like that time in my employee review when nine people said “Good job John!” and one negative Nellie said, “Bad job!” All I heard in my head walking back to my office was the words from that lone critic. Or the week on vacation, an amazing time away, when all I could think of was the one bad rainy day I had, not the 20 great sunny days I enjoyed.
Negative bias has been scientifically proven: we humans just tend to gravitate more towards the bad than the good, the down than the up, the end of the world versus “the sun will come up tomorrow!” I’ve been pondering this truth as I doom scroll the news every day, especially about the war in Ukraine. Doom scrolling is where we seek out bad news, surf the internet, jumping from one awful story to the next, unable to stop. I’ve been stuck in this behavior the past few weeks. Refreshing my news website every few minutes to get the latest. I see it in others too. Folks just so weighed down by the sheer heaviness of planet earth right now.
The sad thing is that there is actually good news, even in the midst of the doom and gloom. Doesn’t mean we somehow downplay or soft pedal just how much folks are suffering right now, especially in the war zone. It does mean we must—for our own sanity and spirit—find some glimpses of hope and the good. Some light in the darkness.
I know I must find some positivity to ponder.
Consider this: in a matter of days after Russia’s attack, almost every single nation on earth went on record at the United Nations condemning Russia’s invasion. Most of those countries are also now putting the squeeze on Putin’s economy with sanctions and sacrifice at home (like $4.50 a gallon gas). It is working, albeit at a slower pace than the battles. It’s the largest show of global solidarity and support for democracy and freedom since World War II.
Consider the merciful and miraculous welcome being extended to the almost three million refugees forced out of their own country by Russia’s savagery. Poland alone has embraced 1.8 million folks, most of them women, children, and the elderly. Ukrainians are settling across the European continent--sheltered, fed, protected—in huge numbers. Out of this humanitarian disaster is the humanity, decency, and kindness being shown by so many, to so many. It belies the cruelty of Putin’s violent bullying and reminds us that, yes, most folks are good at heart. Most folks do want to do the right thing.
I’m blown away by the courage of so many Ukrainians who are defending their homeland. Who love freedom so much that they are ready to put their lives on the line for it. I’m amazed at their bravery, and that they are still holding back one of the biggest armies in the world. Their example makes me wonder just how grateful I am—and should be--for simple gifts like shelter, food, warmth, and safety.
Yes, there is plenty of negative news to absorb these days. Given the enormous and seemingly infinite amount of news and media now available to all of us 24/7 with just a swipe on our phones, we can easily doom scroll until…well…the end of the world. Or maybe we can balance that out by also searching for the good. Seeking out those human beings who are displaying humanity at its best. Remembering and trusting, as my faith teaches me, to believe that in the long arc of human history and the universe, the good and the just do prevail. Will prevail.
I dare all of us not to doom scroll, but instead to actively look for the light. For love. It is out there. We just have to overcome our negative bias to find it.
The end of the world? As fiction, yes. As truth? Not yet.
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