The media is perversely motivated to sell fear. They appeal to our reptitilian brain and ancient fears that are still present in our thought process even to this day.
What gets clicks and attention? Appealing to our reptilian brain where fear sells. Our brain matures over time, and we move from the reptilian to the rational. Our forebrain takes 25-years to develop, and spurrs us to be empathetic and rational.
Knowing that the media profits when we fear world events, we can parse out our attenion. Reporting on every anecdotal COVID-19 case and symptom is not something our rational brain should react to. When we are emotional, we cannot be rational. The media understands this uses constant emotional appeals to shift our mind from rational to emotional. Fear is the strongest emotion.
Going forward, we need to take the media's blast of information rationally. When we hear about COVID-19 cases, we need to look at official data sources. Were comorbidities present in the case? What is your local experience and the per-capita cases? Ask these questions to shift from your emotional brain to the rational brain.
Fear is easy to sell. Know this before your exposure to media.
Image from Pixabay.