One of the better discussions about negativity bias I've seen lately. What if public education, a recognition of our own cognitive biases, is not enough? Perhaps someone could try to “tax” negative information to internalize this negative externality? Not sure how that would be done, but we can do this easily with goods like sugar sweetened beverages.
Thanks! I think this is a great idea and I’ve thought about it as well. I’m hoping regulation isn’t necessary to fix the problem, but if it is, I think the first place to start would be social media. You could introduce a “Negativity Tax” that would be charged to all social media companies, and then the companies could lower their tax rate by de-promoting negative material in their algorithms. The more they discount negative information, the lower the tax rate, with the goal being that negativity bias would be counteracted and positive and negative information would be presented and consumed fairly equally.
I love the application of negativity bias as an addiction. I talk about it a lot as a driver for a lot of ills but you are right that it is addicting. I also like your angle on agency. There are influential people who try to claim we have no agency over addiction, specifically even those on the left side of your diagram. It drives me nuts because if you don't have personal agency you're a puppet.
Great article. Here's mine on agency and addiction:
Fascinating article. I agree the lack of any attributed agency leads to puritanical regulations as well as a loss of hope for the affected individuals. If you treat people like they don't have agency for long enough, eventually they'll believe you. Not a good path to go down.
I also really like your piece Apocalypse Always. Think it dovetails really nicely with my earlier piece that first drew the connection between negativity bias and addiction, linked here:
One of the better discussions about negativity bias I've seen lately. What if public education, a recognition of our own cognitive biases, is not enough? Perhaps someone could try to “tax” negative information to internalize this negative externality? Not sure how that would be done, but we can do this easily with goods like sugar sweetened beverages.
Also regarding this one on my new Facebook page.
Thanks! I think this is a great idea and I’ve thought about it as well. I’m hoping regulation isn’t necessary to fix the problem, but if it is, I think the first place to start would be social media. You could introduce a “Negativity Tax” that would be charged to all social media companies, and then the companies could lower their tax rate by de-promoting negative material in their algorithms. The more they discount negative information, the lower the tax rate, with the goal being that negativity bias would be counteracted and positive and negative information would be presented and consumed fairly equally.
Resharing*
Optimism sounds cheap while pessimism sounds expensive.
Bingo. Well said
I love the application of negativity bias as an addiction. I talk about it a lot as a driver for a lot of ills but you are right that it is addicting. I also like your angle on agency. There are influential people who try to claim we have no agency over addiction, specifically even those on the left side of your diagram. It drives me nuts because if you don't have personal agency you're a puppet.
Great article. Here's mine on agency and addiction:
https://www.polymathicbeing.com/p/agency-vs-addiction
Fascinating article. I agree the lack of any attributed agency leads to puritanical regulations as well as a loss of hope for the affected individuals. If you treat people like they don't have agency for long enough, eventually they'll believe you. Not a good path to go down.
I also really like your piece Apocalypse Always. Think it dovetails really nicely with my earlier piece that first drew the connection between negativity bias and addiction, linked here:
https://travismonteleone.substack.com/p/our-negativity-addiction?r=1l2z5n