If you’ve ever opened your phone for “a quick check” and emerged 27 minutes later convinced that the economy is collapsing,
your neighbors are secretly villains, and the only safe investment is canned beanscongratulations. You’ve met the new normal
of negativity.
In Ben Carlson’s A Wealth of Common Sense post “The New Normal of Negativity,” he points out something weirdly modern:
lots of people feel like things are going fine in their own lives while simultaneously believing the world is on fire. The result
is a cultural mood that’s part doomscroll, part group-chat panic, and part “I’m okay, but everything else is terrible.”
This article expands on that ideawhy negativity feels so sticky, how it gets turbocharged by media and social platforms, and what
a “wealth of common sense” approach looks like when you’re trying to live (and invest) without letting the daily outrage buffet
eat your brain.
What “The New Normal of Negativity” Is Really Saying
Carlson’s core point is not “everything is perfect.” It’s more like: “The story we tell ourselves about reality often sounds much
worse than the data suggests.” He highlights how outside observers can look at U.S. economic strengthsgrowth, productivity, household
balance sheets, and market leadershipand wonder why Americans sound like they’re narrating a disaster movie.
The twist is that negativity isn’t necessarily coming from personal catastrophe. It’s coming from the atmosphere:
the constant drip of alarming headlines, the political incentives to describe everything as a crisis, and the social media mechanics
that reward the hottest, most emotional take.
The “Vibes vs. Numbers” Disconnect
One reason this disconnect is so common is that “numbers” arrive quietly, while “vibes” arrive with push notifications.
GDP doesn’t slide into your DMs. Inflation memes do.
Another reason: the human brain isn’t a neutral spreadsheet. We’re built to notice threats faster than improvements. In prehistoric
times, ignoring good news didn’t kill you. Ignoring a tiger did. Your nervous system still thinks it’s 30,000 BCE and Twitter is a
rustling bush.
Why Negativity Feels So Normal Now
Negativity has always existed. What’s new is the always-on delivery system. Today, pessimism isn’t just an emotionit’s a subscription
model with autoplay.
1) Negativity Bias: Your Brain’s “Breaking News” Button
Research and business writing on human behavior often describes a “negativity bias”: negative events and emotions tend to hit harder
than positive ones. A single scary headline can outweigh five ordinary “things are improving” updates, especially when you’re tired,
stressed, or already anxious.
This bias isn’t a personal failure. It’s a default setting. The trick is noticing when your default setting is driving the car.
2) Media Incentives: The Alarm Bell Gets More Clicks Than the Doorbell
Media is not a conspiracy; it’s a competition. In a world where attention is the currency, stories that trigger urgency can outperform
stories that provide context. That doesn’t mean journalists are lyingit means the ecosystem is biased toward what people can’t look away
from.
Even well-reported stories can feel relentlessly bleak when the most “newsworthy” events are disasters, conflicts, scandals, and extremes.
A calm day rarely trends.
3) Social Platforms: The Algorithm Loves a Meltdown
Social platforms optimize for engagement, and engagement often comes from emotionespecially outrage, fear, and tribal conflict.
Content that makes you gasp, rage, or argue is more likely to be shown again and again. Over time, this can create a feedback loop:
you see negative content, you feel stressed, you seek more updates, and the system happily hands you more stress.
This is how “staying informed” turns into “living inside the worst five minutes of the internet.”
4) News Overload and “Headline Stress”
If you feel anxious after consuming lots of news, you’re not imagining it. Psychologists have described “news-related stress” and media
overloadespecially when people feel they can’t escape the stream. The brain treats constant threat signals like constant threat signals,
even if those signals are happening through a screen.
Importantly, this doesn’t mean “never read the news.” It means that your relationship with news needs boundaries the same way your diet
needs boundaries. Endless sugar doesn’t become healthy because it’s in a “family size” package.
Why the Economy Can Look Strong and Still Feel Bad
“Negativity” isn’t only about media. Sometimes it’s about how people experience daily lifeespecially prices and uncertainty.
Even if inflation slows, prices don’t rewind. The sticker shock lingers. You don’t feel “disinflation” at the register; you feel
the total.
Inflation Is Loud, Progress Is Quiet
A major psychological factor is visibility. People notice when groceries, rent, and insurance feel higher. They may not notice when
wages rise in a less dramatic way, or when long-term trends improve gradually. The pain is concentrated and immediate; the improvement
is distributed and slow.
Uneven Reality: Averages Aren’t Personal
Another factor: averages hide variety. Even during strong economic periods, some households struggle while others do well. Inequality
can make “the economy is good” feel like a statement about somebody else’s zip code.
Carlson acknowledges that: you can believe the big-picture environment is comparatively strong while still recognizing that not everyone
is sharing the upside.
“Vibecession”: When Feelings Become the Headline
The term “vibecession” became popular to describe the gap between macro indicators and public mood. Whether you love the term or hate it,
it captures something real: perception matters. If people feel uncertain, they may spend less, save more, and interpret everything through
a pessimistic filterwhich can reinforce the mood even if the underlying data is mixed.
In other words, negativity doesn’t have to be “factually correct” to have real effects. It can shape behavior, and behavior can shape outcomes.
The Investor Version of Negativity
If negativity is the cultural weather, investing is where people try to forecast hurricanes using TikTok. This is why markets and moods
often diverge: markets look forward, headlines look at what’s scary right now.
Markets Climb a Wall of Worry (Because Worry Never Leaves)
A common investing mistake is assuming that if the news is negative, the future must be negative too. But markets are pricing machines,
not morality tales. They respond to expectations, not vibes. The news can be gloomy while earnings, productivity, innovation, and long-term
growth continue.
Investor sentiment surveys often show that people can remain pessimistic for long stretcheseven during periods when markets have already
moved higher. That doesn’t mean sentiment is “wrong”; it means sentiment is emotional and markets are comparative.
Negativity Feels Like RiskBut It’s Also a Distraction
Negativity can be useful when it helps you manage real risks: avoid scams, maintain emergency savings, diversify, don’t overextend, don’t
borrow aggressively for speculative bets. That’s “practical caution.”
But negativity becomes harmful when it turns into paralysiswhen it convinces you to abandon a sound plan, sell long-term investments
in a panic, or treat every headline like a portfolio emergency. That’s not risk management; that’s emotional whiplash.
A Wealth of Common Sense Playbook for the New Normal of Negativity
You can’t control the news cycle. You can control your inputs, your habits, and your plan. That’s the “common sense” part.
1) Build a “Data Diet,” Not a Total News Fast
- Pick windows: one or two specific times a day to check news, not 47 micro-checks.
- Pick sources: fewer, higher-quality sources beats infinite hot takes.
- Pick purpose: ask, “What will I do differently with this information?” If the answer is “nothing,” limit exposure.
2) Separate Signal From Noise in Your Financial Life
- Signal: savings rate, debt level, emergency fund, diversification, fees, taxes, time horizon.
- Noise: daily market moves, viral predictions, “expert” certainty, outrage headlines about what might happen next week.
A simple rule: if it doesn’t change your plan, it’s probably noise.
3) Use “Context Anchors” When Your Brain Gets Dramatic
When the mood turns dark, your mind starts speaking in absolutes: “Everything is terrible.” “It’s all falling apart.”
Context anchors help break that spell:
- Zoom out: compare today to 5, 10, 20 years of history, not just last week’s feed.
- Count both sides: what’s improving at the same time as what’s worrying?
- Remember adaptation: people adjust, businesses innovate, policy shifts, technology evolves.
4) Make Your Plan More Powerful Than Your Mood
The best defense against negativity isn’t “positive thinking.” It’s structure:
automated investing (if appropriate), rebalancing rules, a written financial plan, and a long-term perspective.
Plans don’t panic. People do.
5) Keep a Small, Honest Optimism
Optimism doesn’t mean ignoring problems. It means believing problems are solvable enough that you can keep functioning.
Carlson’s point isn’t “throw a parade.” It’s “don’t live in a doom-loop.”
In the new normal of negativity, a little optimism is basically a superpowerquiet, practical, and stubbornly focused on what you can
actually do.
of Experiences: How Negativity Shows Up (and How People Push Back)
To make this real, here are a few common experiences people run intoespecially when the “new normal of negativity” starts feeling like
the only normal.
Experience #1: The Morning Scroll That Hijacks the Whole Day
A lot of people have a version of this story: you wake up, you check your phone, and within five minutes you’ve consumed a buffet of
crisis. Nothing in your bedroom has changed, but your nervous system is acting like you just got chased by a wolf. The weird part is
how sticky it feels. Even after you get dressed, eat breakfast, and answer a few emails, the mood stays in the background like a low
battery warning you can’t dismiss.
The “fix” usually isn’t a grand life overhaul. It’s boring and effective: don’t start the day with crisis content. Some people swap the
first 20 minutes for a walk, music, stretching, a shower, or even a book. What changes isn’t the worldit’s the baseline. You begin the
day from “I’m here” instead of “everything is on fire.”
Experience #2: The Dinner Table Turns Into a Doom Seminar
Another familiar scene: you’re with friends or family, and someone says, “Did you see what happened?” and suddenly the whole meal becomes
a live panel discussion on why society is collapsing. Nobody’s being malicious. It’s just that negativity is contagious, and outrage is
socially sticky. It bonds peopletemporarily.
The healthiest versions of this experience usually involve someone gently changing the rhythm: asking a practical question (“What’s one
thing we can do about it?”), adding context (“Is that headline the whole story?”), or simply balancing the conversation with something
real and local (“How are you doing, actually?”). The goal isn’t forced cheerfulness. The goal is remembering that your life is not a
24/7 breaking-news segment.
Experience #3: The Investor Who Keeps “Waiting for the Crash”
In investing circles, negativity often shows up as delay disguised as wisdom. Someone wants to invest, but they keep waiting for the
perfect moment because the news feels bad. Months pass. Sometimes years. When markets rise, it feels unfair. When markets fall, it feels
like proofyet the person still doesn’t act because now it feels scary.
The people who break out of this loop tend to do one humble thing: they stop trying to outsmart the calendar. They set a simple plan
(often automatic contributions, diversified holdings, and periodic rebalancing) and let time do the heavy lifting. They still read the
news. They still feel feelings. They just don’t let feelings drive the steering wheel.
Experience #4: The “Everything Is Bad” Mood That Ignores Personal Wins
This is the sneakiest one: your life is improvingmaybe you’re learning, earning more, building skills, or repairing relationshipsbut
the ambient negativity makes it hard to feel any of it. It’s like trying to enjoy a sunny day while someone stands behind you loudly
describing clouds.
A surprisingly effective counter is keeping a small “evidence log”: a note on your phone with a few weekly entries of what went right,
what you improved, and what you handled better than last time. It sounds corny until it works. The point isn’t to pretend problems don’t
exist. The point is to train your attention to see the whole picture again.
Conclusion: Common Sense Is a Negativity Antidote
The new normal of negativity thrives on constant input, constant urgency, and constant certainty that the worst-case scenario is the only
scenario. A wealth of common sense does the opposite: it zooms out, checks the data, respects real problems without worshipping them,
and builds habits that keep you steady.
You don’t have to be naive. You don’t have to be numb. You just have to be intentionalabout what you consume, how you interpret it,
and what you do next.