The word “pronoia” first appeared in Dr. Fred H. Goldner’s paper on psychological literature in 1982. In his paper, he declared that Pronoia is the positive counterpart of paranoia. It’s the state of mind where someone believes that the world is conspiring to help them. It’s the belief that others think well of you, and that your actions and efforts are appreciated and well received. At its extreme form, it is a literal psychological medical diagnosis. But for the point of today’s message, I’d simply like to explore the concept at a higher level.
Pronoia. The belief that the world is out to help us. Can’t say as though that’s ever occurred to me, but with my undying belief that the best is ahead…I think I might just have a case of pronoia.
The human brain consists of 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synaptic connections. It’s trained to embrace whatever you show it over and over again. For instance, show it the gym at 6am every morning, and you’ll be fit and healthy. Show it dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and you won’t be healthy. Train it on negative news like the Crisis News Network (CNN) and you’ll certainly be Below the Line and in a terrible state of mind as you think about your bleak future.
Facebook feed? Twitter (ya, I can’t get behind this “X” thing)? Insta? Is your newsfeed a constant barrage of gloom and doom? Your friends, do you surround yourself with people who believe the world is spiraling out of control? That scarcity of resources will deplete the human race of all that is needed for life and health and peace?
You’re not alone. You’re being manipulated by the news media. They are showing you the worst of the worst to promote fear hoping you’ll watch more so they can sell more ads and make more money for their network or platform. Are you falling victim?
To be clear, fear is an appropriate and necessary default operating software for the human being. We’re optimized for fear and scarcity. This is great for avoiding lions and gathering food for our families. But it’s deficient for navigating the complexities of modern life.
At the center of the brain is the amygdala. It’s our brain’s early warning system. It’s constantly scanning for danger and giving us an outlet to avoid it. Yet, in today’s 24/7 news cycle, it’s on perpetual high alert. As a result, we have a negativity bias that causes us to pay 10 times more attention to bad news rather than good.
The media’s job is to deliver your eyes to their advertisers, and as a result, the old saying is truer today than ever: If it bleeds, it leads.
But here’s the crux: Pervasive pessimism doesn’t reflect reality.
While today’s world is far from perfect, there is more abundance and reasons to be optimistic than at any point in history. Global poverty has been declining for 2 centuries and is currently at an all-time low. Yet, in a current survey of over 25,000 people across 28 countries, 52% believe it’s rising.
Child mortality has halved over the last 20 years, but only 39% of people are aware of this positive trend.
Even more startling? According to a recent Pew Research Center study, 58% of Americans believe life was better 50 years ago. Seriously? No smartphones, internet, medical advancements, efficiencies, freedoms? Is life really so bad?
So, it’s obvious that we’re hard-wired for pessimism. Not Pronoia. What can we do to combat this? How can we remain optimistic, positive and focused on turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones, and problems into opportunities?
Well, not to be trivial, but to combat it, it’s not hard. It’s not rocket science. It’s things you know, things I’ve written about for 5+ years. You have to intentionally be grateful…you have to seek out, to look for, your blessings. You have to choose your positive mindset. You have to turn off the news and fill that time by reading a book on leadership, health, healing, self-awareness, financial stewardship, joy. You have to watch good movies with good endings. You have to avoid foods that make you feel like crap. You have to get out of bed when the alarm goes off and get your body moving. You have to choose to hang out with friends who boost you Above the Line, not pull you Below. You have to join a community of people with a positive mindset and a grateful heart. The Framingham Heart Study found that hanging out with close happy friends increases your likelihood of being happy by up to 25%!
Join me in the pronoia movement! The world is out to help us!
Be blessed! And be a blessing to others.
And live on purpose today.
