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Hizjyayvu t1_j33oqfu wrote

Well I can't say for certain but there's a combination of wealth gap and ignoring climate trends that make a lot of people pessimistic about the future in general and that spills over into a lot of content here. Well not content as much as comments, but kind of both. Also we've gained a certain impression about which private companies or people that seem to be in control of the planet's future and those parties are highly suspect. Just trying to give an idea as to why things get gloomed into oblivion sometimes.

I'm definitely excited for the future but I live in a first world country and am generally pretty positive.

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Marsman121 t1_j33u1dv wrote

Social media also plays a huge role in this. Algorithms push negative news because "doomscrolling" increases engagement, and more engagement means more money.

This also shifts reporting as well. If your job is based around clicks and eyeballs, the gloomy story about how X is bringing about the end of the world is going to do that better than some hopeful news about how things can and are improving.

If all the average person sees is doom and gloom, that is going to reflect in their general attitude toward the future.

I have been trying my hardest to switch toward a more optimistic view of the future, and it is hard considering the usual things floating around. It's not about ignoring all the troubles we are currently facing, but about seeing them as challenges we have to overcome rather than impossible hurtles that will doom us.

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[deleted] t1_j345086 wrote

[deleted]

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Layer_4_Solutions t1_j347di4 wrote

So look at environmental reporting, not much gets done on remediation and improvements. There are a ton of hazardous substances that we were dumping into the water 40 years ago that we aren't anymore, but it doesn't drive nearly as much engagement so doesn't get reported on as much.

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Marsman121 t1_j34b96l wrote

>... but the main reason is that bad news actually outweighs good news, at least as far as things like climate and environmental is concerned.

This is my point though. Is it? It is the different between feelings and facts. It feels like everything is negative and doom and gloom because that is all we see. That is all the algorithms seem to feed us. It's what we remember and what is reinforced by interactions with other people who are also getting the same gloom and doom we are.

A negative feedback loop where negative things drive us to click on more negative things, training our algorithms that we want to see more negative things.

TL;DW: Back when climate change was first being studied, climate scientists all were more or less convinced we were on an 'apocalyptic' trajectory. Today, we have made enough progress in the past few decades that most scientists agree we have likely avoided "worse case" scenarios. Still bad, but not end of humanity levels predicted before.

We aren't making quick progress, but progress is being made.

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christiandb t1_j33xgra wrote

I think that this sub might as well be sci-fi realism, not necessarily reality but it could be.

magical realism through technology and although things may seem to shake out in a certain way (climate change, corpos taking over) its that assumption and beliefs in those things that make the terror real. The human capacity of creative powers has infinite capcity which some people with power use as leverage to make you believe in whatever they want.

This is mostly a mentals game. If you were swimming in garbage water for years, all you would think is that everywhere is garbage water . there are plenty bodies of waters that are pristine, untouched and waiting for people. People need only courage to cross over and the mindfulness to not pollute the next area

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Test19s t1_j34248x wrote

Other factors:

There was a global run of, on average, improving living standards from 1946-2008/2019 (depending on country). That ending puts us in a situation without a good frame of reference within living memory.

A lot of the more utopian scenarios have been foreclosed upon by either the limits of physics and finite natural resources or by the realities of human nature/the behavior of organisms in a large and complex society.

News media and social media highlight the negatives, because neutral events or gradual progress are the assumed status quo.

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