Knowing that anxiety is useless and worry cannot solve the problem, why are we still worried?
people are easy to worry about the future. They know that it is useless, but they can't help but worry. This is called psychologically black box effect .
The so-called black box effect is that when you don’t understand the situation, the first thing you think of is bad things. For example, if your daughter doesn’t go home from school, the first thing she thinks is that she was cheated and hit by a car; and few people will think that it is a good thing, such as being kept by the teacher and praised.
So it is easy for people to worry about the future, because the future is a black box.
How is the black box effect formed?
How is the black box effect caused? Why do we humans have this psychological effect?
The we formed in evolution is a result of adapting to the environment . Most of our ancestors were hunting for tens of thousands of years. In primitive society, because the dangers at that time were mainly tigers, leopards, , and snakes. So be very careful about danger and be cautious. means that people who are easily sensitive to bad news are more likely to survive. has been eliminated from generation to generation, and the genes inherited in the end are generally sensitive to bad news. So people are prone to think badly about things that are unaware of, and are anxious about the future .
What are the benefits of anxiety?
Anxiety is beneficial, that is, let us pay attention to the risks . Just like pain reminds us. If a person cannot feel pain, it is very dangerous at that time. Pain lets us know that we are in external or internal danger. Only by getting rid of danger in a timely manner. The same is true for anxiety. It has reminded us of risks in many generations of human beings in the past to make our ancestors survive better. So, Even if we know that anxiety is useless, we still worry.
Modern anxiety is no longer a danger to wild beasts
But the modern living environment is very different from our ancestors. The modern environment changes much faster than the evolution of psychology. Our psychological response mechanism still has a large part of it that adapts to the survival of primitive society and stays behind .
But in modern society, the risks obviously do not come from wild animals. Many risks are not fatal either. Primitive society, if there are red flags, you may reduce the chance of being eaten by tigers. . Now, when feels dangerous, you usually won’t die. is more likely to lose your chance . Therefore, for modern people, is too sensitive to risks, anxiety, or concerns, which is actually unfavorable to possible survival. If those with procrastination live in primitive society, they may not go out to avoid the danger of being eaten by tigers because of a little bit of wind and wind; but in modern times, they will lose more opportunities.
Where does general anxiety come from
There are widespread anxiety in the current environment, and some people attribute it to bad economy or the epidemic. There is a reason for this. It may also be because social changes are too fast . What I have experienced now is that I have experienced 200 years of industrial society in the West in 30 years. At the same time, when I just adapted to the rules of the game of the industrial society, I have moved towards the information society . As a result of this change in the overall environment, people have new stress and anxiety.
moderate held anxiety
Since our past psychological model has not been completely suitable for the survival of the industrial society or the information society, we need to consciously adapt and adjust.
Adaptation: It means that people adjust themselves to adapt to the environment. The process of biological evolution in and human evolution is the history of adapting to the environment. The environment is always changing, and all you can do is to find ways to adapt to the environment.
Hedging: Knowing the psychological characteristics of human beings is that they are easy to think of the bad things that they don’t know. In this way, we can consciously adjust . There are many things we worry about since we were young and have not happened. , especially , depression , people with anxiety disorder. It is easier to amplify risks. A person with anxiety disorder, the boss scolds him and thinks that he will get unemployed. His wife will get divorced if he is unemployed; he will not see the child; he will think of his child and be abused by his stepfather... People who amplify risks can add such troubles to themselves.
Knowing that our subconscious mind amplifies risks, we adjust our ideas to judge the problem more accurately.
In this era of great social changes, there is enough information that makes us anxious. Even if anxiety is inevitable , what can be done is that learns to adjust and hedge against the black box effect we inherit. not only reduces a little anxiety, but also makes us judge and react more accurately and stay away from the pessimism we were when we were primitive people.
Hedging: Knowing the psychological characteristics of human beings is that they are easy to think of the bad things that they don’t know. In this way, we can consciously adjust . There are many things we worry about since we were young and have not happened. , especially , depression , people with anxiety disorder. It is easier to amplify risks. A person with anxiety disorder, the boss scolds him and thinks that he will get unemployed. His wife will get divorced if he is unemployed; he will not see the child; he will think of his child and be abused by his stepfather... People who amplify risks can add such troubles to themselves.
Knowing that our subconscious mind amplifies risks, we adjust our ideas to judge the problem more accurately.
In this era of great social changes, there is enough information that makes us anxious. Even if anxiety is inevitable , what can be done is that learns to adjust and hedge against the black box effect we inherit. not only reduces a little anxiety, but also makes us judge and react more accurately and stay away from the pessimism we were when we were primitive people.
