Dr. Laurie Santos

You don't do things pro-socially to help other people. And what you find research-wise is if you study people who are cynical, they self-report not voting. They self-report not donating to charity, not doing the stuff that you need to do to make things better. So yeah, it's really bad. And it becomes a vicious cycle, right? Because as more people get hopeless,

You don't do things pro-socially to help other people. And what you find research-wise is if you study people who are cynical, they self-report not voting. They self-report not donating to charity, not doing the stuff that you need to do to make things better. So yeah, it's really bad. And it becomes a vicious cycle, right? Because as more people get hopeless,

You don't do things pro-socially to help other people. And what you find research-wise is if you study people who are cynical, they self-report not voting. They self-report not donating to charity, not doing the stuff that you need to do to make things better. So yeah, it's really bad. And it becomes a vicious cycle, right? Because as more people get hopeless,

Then they look out in the world with this hopeless lens. They post on social media with a hopeless lens. We get podcasts that are very hopeless. And it just becomes a cycle where we reinforce each other's bad perception of the world, one that might not even be really accurate.

Then they look out in the world with this hopeless lens. They post on social media with a hopeless lens. We get podcasts that are very hopeless. And it just becomes a cycle where we reinforce each other's bad perception of the world, one that might not even be really accurate.

Then they look out in the world with this hopeless lens. They post on social media with a hopeless lens. We get podcasts that are very hopeless. And it just becomes a cycle where we reinforce each other's bad perception of the world, one that might not even be really accurate.

Yeah, I mean, we know for sure that emotions are contagious, right? They're just like COVID. And we know this, right? You go into an office and you hang out with somebody who's feeling hyped up and optimistic and excited, you kind of catch that, right? You go into the same office with somebody who's down and not feeling it, like, you catch that too, right?

Yeah, I mean, we know for sure that emotions are contagious, right? They're just like COVID. And we know this, right? You go into an office and you hang out with somebody who's feeling hyped up and optimistic and excited, you kind of catch that, right? You go into the same office with somebody who's down and not feeling it, like, you catch that too, right?

Yeah, I mean, we know for sure that emotions are contagious, right? They're just like COVID. And we know this, right? You go into an office and you hang out with somebody who's feeling hyped up and optimistic and excited, you kind of catch that, right? You go into the same office with somebody who's down and not feeling it, like, you catch that too, right?

These days, we don't just catch emotions from the other people we're around. We have this transfer system online where folks are catching

These days, we don't just catch emotions from the other people we're around. We have this transfer system online where folks are catching

These days, we don't just catch emotions from the other people we're around. We have this transfer system online where folks are catching

emotions globally you know I hop on some social media platform I'm catching some emotion from somebody on Instagram that lives in a different country in a completely different time zone but I catch that too and that's made worse by the fact that these social media companies obviously have algorithms that thrive not on us catching each other's positive emotions but on catching each other's anger and outrage and sadness right that's what gets eyeballs on our phones and so all these things together means not just that there's transference

emotions globally you know I hop on some social media platform I'm catching some emotion from somebody on Instagram that lives in a different country in a completely different time zone but I catch that too and that's made worse by the fact that these social media companies obviously have algorithms that thrive not on us catching each other's positive emotions but on catching each other's anger and outrage and sadness right that's what gets eyeballs on our phones and so all these things together means not just that there's transference

emotions globally you know I hop on some social media platform I'm catching some emotion from somebody on Instagram that lives in a different country in a completely different time zone but I catch that too and that's made worse by the fact that these social media companies obviously have algorithms that thrive not on us catching each other's positive emotions but on catching each other's anger and outrage and sadness right that's what gets eyeballs on our phones and so all these things together means not just that there's transference

but there's particular transference of the bad stuff, of the hopelessness.

but there's particular transference of the bad stuff, of the hopelessness.

but there's particular transference of the bad stuff, of the hopelessness.

Yeah. I think one of the ways to find a balance is just to realize that what we're exposed to affects us, right? You hop on Instagram and you start scrolling through that feed. You might know that some of the stuff you look at is Photoshopped.

Yeah. I think one of the ways to find a balance is just to realize that what we're exposed to affects us, right? You hop on Instagram and you start scrolling through that feed. You might know that some of the stuff you look at is Photoshopped.