The
media can be such a pain in the butt. Right now they're going nuts
about this Ebola thing. Listen, if you live in a developed country
you probably have a better chance of being struck by lightning than
of contracting Ebola.
Here is
something I want you to consider. Have you ever heard of a gentleman
by the name of Paul Ekman? Ekman is a psychologist of great repute. He's the one who taught us about the fact that the facial expression, of human emotion, is universal.
Meaning, people around the globe, regardless of their language or
culture, can read the emotions on other people's faces.
Let's do
a little experiment. Look at the picture below. What emotion is this
woman experiencing?
I'm
pretty sure your answer was fear. It is clear that the woman is
showing signs of being afraid. I want to draw your attention to one
thing. Notice that one characteristic of the face of fear is a
widening of the eyes. When we're afraid, our eyes tend to bug-out.
Most
psychologists agree, the reason the eyes widen, when we are
afraid, is so that we can maximize our field of vision. When we are in a dangerous situation, we need to take in as
much information as possible. Hence the big eyes.
Though
the media buffs might not explain it this way, keeping you locked in is exactly why
they sell so much fear. When we are fearful we search for additional
information. And, guess what the television news shows sell. Exactly,
they sell you additional information. Their goal is not to put your mind at ease. Their goal is to sell their advertising slots for as
much money as possible. To do this they need to keep you watching. This way their ratings go up. To keep you watching, they want to keep you afraid, so
you'll keep coming back for more information.
Don't
believe it. Don't buy into their game. Understand how you are being
manipulated and you have a better chance of controlling your fears.
