Fake or misleading news can lead to confusion, frustration, and boredom, all of which have physiological effects that are often uncomfortable. Instead of avoiding these emotions, embracing and understanding them can lead to personal growth. Each emotion carries a specific meaning: anger signals a violation of rights, frustration indicates a lack of progress towards a goal, and boredom reflects a deficit in useful information. By decoding these emotional signals, individuals can choose to confront and resolve them rather than ignore them, ultimately adapting and becoming stronger through the process.
Are we using technology to make ourselves numb? What’s the downside of air conditioning? And was Angela the most annoying person in her college classes?
- RESOURCES:
- "World Happiness Report," (Gallup, 2024).
- "How Painful Should Your Workout Be?" by Alex Hutchinson (The New York Times, 2022).
- "Taylor Swift’s NYU Commencement Speech: Read the Full Transcript," by Hannah Dailey (Billboard, 2022).
- The Comfort Crisis: Embrace Discomfort to Reclaim Your Wild, Happy, Healthy Self, by Michael Easter (2021).
- The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning, by Paul Bloom (2021).
- "Residents of Poor Nations Have a Greater Sense of Meaning in Life Than Residents of Wealthy Nations," by Shigehiro Oishi and Ed Diener (Psychological Science, 2014).
- "Confusion Can Be Beneficial for Learning," by Sidney D’Mello, Blair Lehman, Reinhard Pekrun, and Art Graesser (Learning and Instruction, 2014).
- "Stranger Situations: Examining a Self-Regulatory Model of Socially Awkward Encounters," by Joshua Clegg (Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 2012).