Wish people would stop doom-mongering all the time

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Having just gone through a pandemic, I wish people would sometimes stop talking other potential catastrophic scenarios like nuclear war just because of the war in Ukraine or Artificial Intelligence. I seem to feel as though we still are in that doom-mongering mindset of talking about things that present a likely or unlikely threat to humanity and we haven't come out it and we spent so much time doom-mongering during the pandemic as well. Sometimes I just feel quite sick and tired hearing about price rises, inflation, wars and stuff going on right now it makes it seem even here in the UK like everything is extremely bad, as bad as country in the poorest parts of the world like Zimbabwe or Venezuela when the UK is supposed to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

I seem to think before Covid there was little for me to worry about, I remember I used to worry about a meteor hitting the earth or a black hole but I learnt to rationalise and convince myself that the likelihood of those things happening is possibly one in billions or trillions and that got me worrying less about it. But the things happening right now seem to be heightening the worries in my head again as though the situations we are facing will spell doom for humanity.

People are always going to be pointing out the obvious contradictions of our current paradigm, and screaming about the serious threats Humanity faces, those threats that are perpetuated by a class of people who have no care for anything but their own wealth and power.

My suggestion is to find ways to ignore it all, because I can guarantee that no one is going to stop "doom-mongering".

The only thing that's scaring me at the moment is the NHS (which I only hear about here on WP).

Another way to put this, and to put any one individual at ease, is the fact that each and every one of us, as individuals, are completely powerless in "fixing" any of these problems, and because of that, our only outlet as individuals is making noise about the obvious. (you can also try to live how you know will ensure you have a minimal "footprint", as an outlet, but sadly that practice doesn't resonate with others as does discourse, communication, "memes", etc.)

IOW, you have every right to "hide" yourself from the doom-mongering. No one can rightly hold that against you.

(also, this is why we need to be organizing against the powers that cause all these issues)

What helps me is to avoid the news in all it's forms. News seems to be primarily comprised of awful occurrences and grim concerns. I am pained enough by my personal life, I don't need to add to that the psychological effects of being perpetually informed of the horrors of wars being fought in far-flung countries, or of these anticipations of various humanity-ending events. It's all quite far-removed from my personal experience, tangential only in the form of indirect effects that I can't do anything about. I think it's best not to pay these things much attention if doing so is having negative effects. Fair enough if you're doing alright and these things are of interest, but I really need the mental space for other things, and I imagine a lot of people do in the wake of covid. So I live under a rock now, but with the faith that whatever truly needs to reach me will reach me, because some of the things that don't need to reach me still do.

I can cheer you up. AI isn't worth worrying about. Nuclear war is unlikely.

Over the past 100 years, the human condition had generally improved despite two world wars. Life is an order of magnitude better than it was in 1913. Sure, things aren't perfect.

Even in the worst case of global warming, its not like the planet will become a giant wasteland. I'm saying this as a person that is concerned about it - its not the literal end of the world.

We got new medical tech that is just starting to have impacts - the pandemic was the first time an mRNA vaccine was used wide scale. Thats a big deal! Curing cancer might actually happen within a few decades. The only downside I can think of is that we may be among the last of the generations before the real big medical stuff like longevity research really pays off. Imagine being the last generation to face natural old age death!

I worry about how much we have trashed the planet with all our plastic, and the number of trees that get cut down every day to make toilet paper and other essential things, and all the scraps of metal and everything that can't be broken down.

I worry about the fumes from all the traffic, yet I worry about electric cars as well. I think electric cars will bring it's own set of problems, also electric vehicles have been known to burst into flames when on charge, sending off thick plume for miles. Surely that can't be very healthy for any living thing either.

My biggest concern is who makes these decisions. It seems to be rich people with no common sense or intelligence and are just thinking about money over the lives of people, animals and the environment.

Without their gloom-and-doom "prophesies", some people would have no sense of meaning, of purpose, or of significance.  For some, spreading gloom-and-doom is their only way to assure themselves that they matter.

I seem to think that since Covid, all they seem to talk about is doom, I mean I saw a video uploaded about the situation with the dam burst in Ukraine saying it could have ''consequences for all of Europe'' not just in Ukraine. I'm also finding it rather irritating with a lot of protesters in the UK like Just Stop Oil doom-mongering about climate change as if tomorrow we are all going to burn to death when there was probably this type of fear going around 30 years ago and were probably saying back then that 30 years from now a global climate catastrophe will happen, cities will be underwater and humanity will be no more. Well here we are right now all still alive.

I grew up in a culture which doom-mongered constantly. You’re probably right that this has escalated since COVID, but it feels normal to me.

I try to avoid the news because it makes me anxious and can trigger my PTSD.

If you find that it’s bothering you, you should probably avoid it or limit it, too. I know someone who only allows herself to watch the morning news and then avoids it the rest of the day. That could be a sound strategy for some, I think.

Chris, with all due respect, it is not that the "world hasn't ended yet, even though people have been sounding the alarms", it is that certain things are indeed getting worse, and have been for much longer than just the past 30 years. The powers that be use EVERYTHING at their disposal to spin the narrative to their advantage, to make the masses think nothing is too dire. This is obviously false. The Earth's atmosphere and oceans ARE heating up, and BILLIONS of People ARE going to be affected, if they are not already.

It is possible to see ALL these issues and threats and not have it affect your psyche/mental health. It comes down to us CHOOSING to DO SOMETHING. Obviously, this is not for everybody, but GDI, let these People do these things. They are the ones that will bring the changes we need. Not those who stand aside and do little but critique them.

I don't like it when people doom monger. I react by mongering rainbows, sunshine and hope.