Healthy mind, healthy body

The mainstream media have become heralds of the apocalypse. However, there are calmer and more optimistic ways of looking at reality.

An invitation to always look on the bright side of life.

"Always Look on the Bright Side of Life"

Monty Python

After the ill-fated year that was 2020, championing optimism might seem like a bold move. Catastrophic headlines, doom-laden talk-shows and devastating studies... The mainstream media put across a perspective of negativity that has only heightened the tensions and conflicts that exist in our society. In this context, the term buenismo (loosely defined as ‘goodness’) takes on a special relevance. The Fundación del Español Urgente defines it as "behaviour based on the belief that problems can be solved through dialogue, solidarity and tolerance."

Taking this idea as its motto, the SER channel's TV program Buenismo bien reports from the bright side of life (paraphrasing the song Always Look on the Bright Side of Life from the Life of Brian). An attitude that is often seen as offensive in this day and age. But they aren't the only ones. In the US It's increasingly common to find a Good News section in the media, assuming, implicitly, that the rest is Bad News. The New York Times, Fox, CNN... Are just a few examples of this.

There are historical reasons to be optimistic. At least that’s the central argument of one group of intellectuals, led by cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker. In two of his most popular books, The Better Angels of Our Nature and Enlightenment Now, he argues that, based on the data we have, we are living in a more secure, free and egalitarian world than ever before. The data is there... It just depends on the lens we use to look at it.