NANCY BIRD - WALTON
(1915 - )

Nancy Bird

Achievements

1930 Got flight license

1936 -   air race from Adelaide to Brisbane,  won the Ladies' Trophy.

 1950 -  founded the 'Australian Women's Pilots' Association

1966 -  earned  Order of the British Empire 

Helped to set up a flying medical service in outback New South Wales.

1997 - The National Trust of Australia declared her an Australian Living Treasure .

Turning point

 flowed at an air pageant in 13 YO

 Dutch airline company invited her to do some promotional work in Europe she accepted.

Nancy Bird is well-named.She is one of Australia's aviation pioneers, and the first female pilot in the Commonwealth to carry passengers.A love of life above the clouds, has taken Nancy around the world, fulfilling dreams that began in childhood.Born in Sydney in 1915, Nancy wanted to fly almost as soon as she could walk."I had this reputation of climbing fences and trees and calling myself an eppy plane. You know, jumping off fences and waving my arms."Nancy left school early to work in her father's general store in the country."With my hard-won savings I bought myself a leather coat, helmet and goggles, because I was going to learn to fly."Nancy was thirteen years old when she flew for the first time while at an air pageant.She paid the pilot a bit extra to do some aerobatics!"My sister said I came down a little green - but on the other hand it became the ruling passion of my life."Five years later that passion drove Nancy to take flying lessons, and not with any old instructor.Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific, had just opened a pilots' school near Sydney, and Nancy was among his first pupils.She was so tiny she needed cushions to reach the controls!Most women learnt to fly for fun.But Nancy planned to fly for a living."When I got my license, I had to think about doing something with it."Having a commercial license meant Nancy could carry passengers, but she needed wings!Family members came to the rescue, and bought Nancy her first plane, a Gipsy Moth.Nancy and a friend soon took off on a barnstorming tour, dropping in on country fairs and giving joy rides.It was the first time some people had seen a plane, let alone a female pilot!"They didn't intend to go up. That was my job, or Peggy's job, to persuade them to go up."While touring, Nancy met Reverend Stanley Drummond.He wanted her to help set up a flying medical service in outback New South Wales.Nancy bought a better-equipped plane, and began covering territory not yet reached by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.It was rewarding but lonely work."One of the things that came into one's mind was the fear of being lost and never being found. You would have perished before being found in the summertime in that country.""Commercial aviation was still in its infancy when 31 aircraftcompeted in the 1936 air race. "(from newsreel)In 1936, Nancy entered an air race from Adelaide to Brisbane, and won the Ladies' Trophy."It was a wonderful opportunity for me to come from that back country and meet other flying people. You see, I was isolated out there. Nobody even spoke the same language."After working in the outback for more than four years, Nancy knew she needed a break from flying.When a Dutch airline company invited her to do some promotional work in Europe, she accepted.World War Two broke out soon after Nancy's return to Australia.She began training women in skills needed to back-up the men flying in the Australian Airforce.In 1950, she founded the 'Australian Women's Pilots' Association'.Eight years later Nancy decided she wanted to fly again.Nancy was back in the pilot's seat after a twenty year absence.Her entry in a famous all-women race in America, called the Powder Puff Derby, made headlines.It was the first time a woman from overseas had competed.Throughout her life Nancy has supported charities, and people in need.This generous spirit earned her the Order of the British Empire in 1966.Although she's never crashed a plane Nancy admits flying, especially in those early days, was risky.Taking risks, says this adventurer, opens up opportunities."There's a wonderful quotation 'whatever you can do or dream, begin it'."

 Nancy-Bird Walton, AO, OBE, DStJ (16 October 1915 – 13 January 2009) was a pioneering Australian aviator, and was the founder and patron of the Australian Women Pilots' Association.

In the 1930s, defying the traditional role of females of her time, she became a fully qualified pilot at the age of 19, and became the youngest Australian woman to gain a pilot's licence.

Biography[edit]

Born in Kew, New South Wales, Australia on 16 October 1915 as Nancy Bird,^[1] she wanted to fly almost as soon as she could walk. As a teenager during the Depression in Australia, Nancy Bird found herself in the same position as many other children of the time, leaving school at 13 to assist her family.^[1] In 1933, at the age of 18, her passion drove her to take flying lessons. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who was the first man to fly across the mid-Pacific, had just opened a pilots' school near Sydney, and she was among his first pupils. Most women learned to fly for recreation, but Nancy planned to fly for a living.

When she was awarded a commercial pilot's license at the age of 19, through a legacy of 200 pounds from a great aunt plus money loaned from her father (which she paid back), Nancy bought her first aircraft, a de Havilland Gipsy Moth. Soon after Nancy Bird and her friend Peggy McKillop took off on a barnstorming tour, dropping in on country fairs and giving joyrides to people who had never seen an aircraft before, let alone a female pilot. Whilst touring, Bird met Reverend Stanley Drummond. He wanted her to help set up a flying medical service in outback New South Wales. In 1935, she was hired to operate the service, named the Royal Far West Children's Health Scheme. Bird's own Gipsy Moth was used as an air ambulance. She bought a better-equipped aircraft, and began covering territory not yet reached by the Royal Flying Doctor Service. She told others that it was rewarding but lonely work.

In 1936, Nancy Bird entered an air race from Adelaide to Brisbane, and won the Ladies' Trophy. In 1938 she decided to have a long break from flying. A Dutch airline company (KLM) invited her to do some promotional work in Europe, where she stayed for a couple of years. She returned to Australia soon after World War II broke out. She began training women in skills needed to back up the men flying in the Royal Australian Air Force. She was 24 when she married an Englishman, Charles Walton, and had two children. He preferred to call her "Nancy-Bird" rather than "Nancy", and she became generally known as "Nancy-Bird Walton". In 1950, she founded the Australian Women Pilots' Association (AWPA),^[1] where she remained president for five years. Nancy-Bird Walton became Patron of the AWPA in 1983 following the death of Lady Casey, the original Patron. In 1958, she decided to return to flying after a twenty-year absence.

Throughout her life Walton was notable for her support of charities and people in need. This generous spirit saw her invested as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1966. She was later appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. She was the starting block for generations of female pilots. She was never involved in an accident, despite the risks of early aviation.

The National Trust of Australia declared her an Australian Living Treasure in 1997.

The first Airbus A380 (VH-OQA) delivered to Australian airline Qantas was named in her honour.^[2] Her name on the A380 was originally written "Nancy Bird Walton",^[3] but Qantas respected her preference for the hyphenation that her late husband used ("Nancy-Bird"), and the hyphen was added before the aircraft's naming, shortly after she was aboard the ceremonial flight above Sydney.^[4] This aircraft was operating flight QF32 when it suffered a serious uncontained engine failure after takeoff from Singapore in 2010; rather ironically, Walton wrote the first officer's reference when he first joined Qantas as a pilot.^[5]

One of her last main interviews was for the feature-length documentary film Flying Sheilaswhich provided a unique insight into her life along with seven other Australian female pilots.

On 10 September 2008, shortly before her death, Walton conducted a 45-minute interview for the one-hour documentary .

On 13 January 2009, Nancy-Bird Walton died at the age of 93.

Nelson Mandella

1952   -  opened  first Black Law firm in South Africa
 finished his degree and qualified as a Lawyer.
1944 - 1949  helped found the ANC Youth League
 1994 -  elected as State President of South Africa

 Make Poverty History Campaign

 1993 - won  Nobel Peace Prize jointly with F.W. De Klerk

by late 50s resignation of ANC
1960 - the Sharpeville massacre of 63 black South African’s changed the whole political climate 1962 - Arrested and  sentenced  notorious Robben Island prison
 1990-released  prison

 1952  -  opened  first Black Law firm in South Africa

 1944 - 1949  helped found the ANC Youth League

  by late 50s resignation of ANC

 1956 -  charged with treason

 1960 -   Sharpeville massacre ( After a day of demonstrations against pass laws, a crowd of about 5,000 to 7,000 black African protesters went to the police station.)

 1960 -  change   political climate of South Africa 

 1960 -  ANZ was Banned

 1962 -  arrested 

 1962 -  sentenced  life imprisonment in notorious Robben Island prison

 1962 - 1990  helped to keep other Men’s spirits high in prison 

 1990 -  release from prison

 1990 - 1994

 10 May 1994  elected State President 

 1994 - 1999  was President 

 Make Poverty History Campaign

1993 - won Nobel Peace Prize jointly with F.W. De Klerk

Nelson Mandela – ShortBiography

Nelson Mandela was born at Qunu, near Umtata on 18 July 1918. His father, was chief councillor to Thembuland’s acting chief David Dalindyebo. When his father died, Mandela and was groomed for becoming chief of his local tribe. However Mandela would never be able to make this commitment.

Whilst at university Nelson Mandela became increasingly aware of the unjust nature of South African Society. The majority of Black South Africans had little opportunities either Economic or Political. Much to the disappointment of his family, Mandela became involved in politics, and along with his good friend and comrade Oliver Tambo was expelled from Fort Hare for organising a student strike. However Mandela was able to finish his degree and qualified as a Lawyer. In 1952 Mandela and Tambo opened the first Black Law firm in South Africa. The Transvaal Law Society tried to have it closed down, although this was blocked by the South African Supreme Court.

In 1944 Mandela helped found the ANC Youth League, whose Programme of Action was adopted by the ANC in 1949. Mandela was instrumental in pushing the ANC into more direct action such as the 1952 Defiance Campaign and later acts of sabotage.

By the late 50s the S.A.state had become increasingly repressive making it more difficult for the ANC to operate. Mandela had to resign from the ANC and work underground. In the late 50s (56 ‒61) there was an extremely lengthy Treason Trial in which Mandela and several others were charged with treason. Conducting their own defence they eventually proved to be victorious. Mandela noted in his autobiography the judiciary were one of the least repressive parts of the South African State and in theory sought to follow the rule of law.

However in 1960 the Sharpeville massacre of 63 black South African’s changed the whole political climate. South Africa was increasingly isolated on the international scene and the government banned the ANC. This led Mandela to advocate armed struggle through the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

However by 1962 Mandela had been arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in the notorious Robben Island prison. Life at the prison was tough and uncompromising. However in his autobiographyMandela reveals how he sought to make the best use of his time there. He helped to keep other Men’s spirits high and never compromised his political principles when offered earlt release. Towards the end of his prison spell his treatment improved as the South African establishment increasingly looked to negotiation, in the face of international isolation.

Although negotiations were painfully slow and difficult, they eventually led to Mandela’s release in 1990. It was an emotional moment watched by millions around the globe

The next 4 years were also difficult as South African society suffered inter cultural violence between ANC and Inkarta supporters, in addition to slow progress on a new constitution.

However on 10 May 1994 Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the first democratically elected State President of South Africa on and was President until June 1999. As president, Mandela presided over the transition from minority rule and apartheid. His advocacy of reconciliation led to international acclaim and importantly the trust of the White African population. Despite the initial euphoria of winning the election the ANC faced a difficult challenge to improve the lives of the black population. This was made more difficult by the HIV epidemic, which continues to cause grave problems. (Nelson Mandela recently lost his eldest son to this disease and Mandela has worked hard to campaign on this issue.)

Since retiring from office Nelson Mandela has continued to be an international figure of great stature. He is one of the few politicians who have gone beyond a political role; he is widely admired and has received many prestigious awards. Nelson Mandelais also associated with many educational programmes and initiatives such as Make Poverty History Campaign.

In 1993 Nelson Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prizejointly with F.W. De Klerk

Short Bio by: Richard

External Links

Biography Professor Fred Hollows

1929 - born in Newzealand

Professor and eye doctor
working in mental hospital (turning point)
1960 -  got  job in Australia 
1965 - head of the Eye Department in Sydney Set  first Aboriginal Medical Service
1970 - 1979  launch national program to attack eye disease in Aboriginal Australians
 treated 30,000 people performed 
A thousand operations 
prescribed about 10,000 pairs  glasses
By 1980  eye health programs  developing countries 
Peter Corris a close friend 
built eye lens factory by asking help from Australian
1989 - got cancer
1993 - dide

                                William Cooper 1861 - 1941

• 1861 - born in Astralia
•  Spokesman for  justice against government
• 1933 - left Yorta Yorta  to Melbourne
• 1933 - became pensioner
• 1934 - held  Australian Aborigines' League group
• 1934 - planned action on behalf of Aboriginal people
• 1934-1938 - made  the centre for Cummeragunja exiles
• 1934-1938 - gathered 1800- 200 signatures for Aboriginal  rights
•  1938 -  planned  a 'Day of Mourning' in response of celebration for the arrival of the British
• 1938 - Worked closely with Bill Ferguson
• 1941- died in Australia

1.	Should drug store pharmacists be allowed to refuse to fill customers' prescriptions on moral grounds? In some states, such as Mississippi, South Dakota, and Arkansas, pharmacists can already choose not to dispense a medication if it goes against their conscience. They have the right, for example, to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth-control pills, "morning-after pills" that prevent fertilization of an egg, and drugs used for assisted suicide. Several other state legislatures, too, are trying to enact laws giving their pharmacists the right to object to these kinds of drugs. According to supporters, pharmacists should never be forced to choose between their moral beliefs and their livelihood. The American Pharmacists Association agrees, but with the stipulation that pharmacists transfer the patient's prescription to another druggist to fill. Some pharmacists, though, have also been refusing to provide a referral, causing advocates for women's reproductive rights, in particular, to protest. Pharmacists, they say, should not be permitted to impose their own personal morality upon others; neither should they be allowed to delay the filling process and cause patients to miss required doses of medication. (Source of information: Charisse Jones, "Druggists Refuse to Give Out Pill,"USA Today, November 9, 2004, p. 3A)
	There is no bias and it is informative Evaluating Bias:
	a. The author is biased in favor of pharmacists' right to refuse to fill certain prescriptions.
	b. The author is biased against pharmacists' right to refuse to fill certain prescriptions.
	c. The author reveals no personal bias. Since being exiled by the Chinese from his native Tibet in 1959, the Dalai Lama has evolved from a remote Asian country's religious leader to a worldwide spiritual guide. Unlike any Dalai Lama before him, he has traveled the globe, educating people about the plight of the six million Tibetans whose civil rights are threatened. In an attempt to protect his cherished culture and its Buddhist religion, he has successfully established more than 50 Tibetan communities in exile. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his dedication to the nonviolent liberation of Tibet. He has met with hundreds of political and religious leaders, including two popes. In his passionate quest to return his homeland to freedom and autonomy, this respected holy man has inspired people all over the world to work for justice and nonviolent conflict resolution. Perhaps more importantly, however, he has encouraged all of humanity to live with greater spirituality and humility. Although he never attempts to convert anyone to his faith, people the world over have flocked to his lectures and bought his many books to learn more about important Buddhist principles. As a consequence, individuals of all religions have become enlightened about the paths to greater wisdom, inner peace, and compassion. (Source of information: Pico Iyer, "Dalai Lama," Time, April 26, 2004, p. 126) Evaluating Bias: Evaluating Bias: a. The author is biased in favor of the Dalai Lama and his activities. b. The author is biased against the Dalai Lama and his activities. c. The author reveals no personal bias. An Internet site called MatchingDonors.com is providing a way for people in need of organ transplants to find their own donors. Advocates hail such online organ-matching sites as yet another way for the thousands of people on waiting lists to get the organ they need to stay alive. These advocates also point out that the clinical ethics committee at Presbyterian/St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver declares nothing wrong with making matches via the Internet. Nonetheless, much of the medical establishment still condemns the practice. According to medical ethicist Arthur Caplan, finding an organ donor online is "questionable because the people you are going to be matched with may not be people who are telling the truth." Furthermore, the nation's organ transplant officials are concerned about online matching leading to the buying and selling of organs. Although such transactions are illegal, online organ matching could make them more likely to take place in secret. What's more, the United Network for Organ Sharing, current distributor of organs from deceased donors, says that Internet organ matching could exploit vulnerable people and interfere with fair distribution. Although a donor cannot be paid for the organ itself, he or she can be reimbursed for travel expenses and lost wages. Therefore, recipients who can afford to pay for such things are more likely to make a match, further undermining a system already criticized for its financial disparities. (Source of information: Robert Davis, "Online Organ Match Raises Ethical Concerns," USA Today, October 26, 2004, p. 8D) Evaluating Bias: just give negative aspects so is bias a. The author is biased in favor of online organ-matching sites. b. The author is biased against online organ-matching sites. c. The author reveals no personal bias. Are America's Wal-Mart stores friends or foes? As its advertisements promise, the company is committed to bringing the lowest possible prices to its customers. Because it fulfills this promise, it has become the world's largest corporation, selling $244.5 billion of goods in 2003 alone. American shoppers obviously enjoy taking advantage of the stores' bargains, and many of them depend on the company for their income, as well. Wal-Mart has become the nation's largest private employer, with over 1.2 million people now on its payroll. The company opens new stores just about every week; therefore, it is credited with bringing jobs to communities where work is often scarce. However, critics of Wal-Mart point out that the company offers only low-paying positions, with an average wage of only about $8 per hour, along with a stingy benefits package. California Wal-Mart employees and their families need $82 million of taxpayers' money every year for health care, food stamps, and other social services. Clearly, Wal-Mart employees are just scraping by, but for some odd reason, many Americans still fail to acknowledge that a new Wal-Mart actually takes more from a community than it gives. Perhaps even more strangely, few Americans ever question why Wal-Mart can sell its products more cheaply than any other retailer, often driving its competition out of business. In fact, this retail powerhouse wipes out its vendors' profits by demanding unreasonably low wholesale prices. Many of these suppliers have had to close their plants, lay off their American employees, and begin importing cheaper products from overseas. (Sources of information: Charles Fishman, "The Wal-Mart You Don't Know," Fast Company, December 2003, p. 68; "Wal-Mart: No Bargain?" no author credited, CBSNews.com, August 7, 2004, www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/08/07/eveningnews.shtml) Evaluating Bias: a. The author is biased in favor of Wal-Mart stores. b. The author is biased against Wal-Mart stores. c. The author reveals no personal bias. Now that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the United States, Canada, and Mexico is ten years old, there is still wide disagreement about whether its impact has been positive or negative. In 2002, the administration of President George W. Bush issued a statement celebrating NAFTA's accomplishments, saying that "the agreement has brought economic growth and rising standards of living for people in all three countries." Some top Mexican bureaucrats have echoed that belief, praising NAFTA for bringing to their country billions of dollars in foreign investment, a 50 percent growth in production, and a large increase in labor productivity. However, other experts, such John Cavanagh and Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies, have criticized the agreement and its legacy. "Workers, communities, and the environment in all three countries," wrote Cavanagh and Anderson, "have suffered from the agreement's flaws." They have pointed out, for example, that the wages of Mexican manufacturing jobs saw no increase from 1994 to 2000. In fact, 2000 wages were actually lower than they were in 1981. Cavanagh and Anderson have also criticized NAFTA for promising Mexico not only industrial growth but also a wide range of social and environmental advances that have yet to materialize. (Source of information: Celeste Fraser Delgado and Tristram Korten, "NAFTA: Saint or Sinner?" Miami New Times, November 13, 2003, www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2003-11-13/news/feature6.html)  Evaluating Bias: a. The author is biased in favor of NAFTA.   b. The author is biased against NAFTA. ****c. The author reveals no personal bias.

TV news sometimes seems more like a show. They want a bigger audience so they show shocking or provocative images. TV news should report the news, not try to shock people."

I agree with second statements because TV news and c criminal shows should not  perform or make any program in regards to violence that including  chocking images or videos.
The reason for that is people can be motivated by violence and the society may tend to confronting with criminal activity such as terrorism, dealing drugs or killing people .On the other hand it is not good for kids who are foundation of future peaceful society.

• children might be badly affected
• people might be scared and feel scared
• some health issue can occurred
• can make people  angry 

. "The public has a right to know what's happening. I think they should not cut out anything. People are mature enough to take in the reality of what happens in the world every day".

• On the other hand people need to know the reality
• they can protect themselves properly
• people have to right to know
• people can be ignorent

How to Recognize Bias in a Newspaper Article

   

1_ Research the newspaper. Some papers have a reputation for giving a particular slant on the news, in addition to the news itself. But don't assume that views expressed on the editorial pages have any influence on coverage; reputable newspapers strictly separate the news and editorial staffs. Also, take note of how many ads the paper runs (not including inserts which are often added after the fact). If there are large number of printed ads that may indicate a paper is beholden to numerous entities such as special interest groups, local and/or federal governments, corporations etc. for funding.  

2_ Take notes as you read the article. Identify "who, what, when, where, why and how" and make a note of any missing information or extra analysis.

 

 3_ See if you could rewrite the article, using the same information, to tell a completely different story.

 

4_
Look at how the writer treats the people he is writing about. Do some sources or witnesses "claim" their stories while others "explain" them? Make notes of language that gives you a positive or negative feeling about a piece of information, but which represents the writer's opinion, and not a verifiable truth. 

 

5_ Pay attention to the overall tone of the article. Does the feeling it gives you relate to the information given (e.g. murder makes you feel sad) or to the writer's opinion (e.g. a particular political party is scary)? 

 

6_ What's missing from the article? Is there a source, witness or explanation that has obviously been ignored? Is the "why" unclear? Does the article fail to present the position of one or more parties involved in the story? 

 

7_ Watch for buzzwords. These are vaguely-defined terms ("the homosexual agenda" or "the Christian agenda") that are designed or tend to evoke an emotional reaction without giving you any real information. Investigate the article for undefined terms, especially when you come across a word that gives you a very strong feeling. 

 

8_ Does the writer try to identify with you or label you (or others)?

• Be wary if you find yourself being pulled into a particular group as you read the article. By asking you to identify with a group mentality ("regular guys," "working class," "concerned citizens," "mothers," "Christians," "teens," "intelligent people"), the writer may be expecting you to forget to think for yourself.
• This can also be turned around to demonize a group. Something innocuous will have quotes around it so as to appear as something less than mainstream or even deviant. These type of quotes are called "scare quotes". For example, look for terms like "these 'volunteers' often work long hours," or "people are 'encouraged' to contact their friends."

9_Observe the placement of stories. The stories on the front page are considered to be more important than the stories in the back.

 

10_ Consider how people are portrayed through pictures. A photo can make someone look good, bad, noble, sleazy, etc. Ask yourself the following questions: What impression does this photo imply about this person? Could a more objective photo have been used?

 

11_  Look for at least two sides to every story. A good reporter will allocate adequate space in the story to present facts and figures supporting all sides of an issue. Ask yourself if all sides of this argument or dispute would agree that their views were represented fairly? If not, the story may show bias. 

 

 

12_ If statistics are provided or studies are mentioned, dig a little deeper. Where did those statistics and studies come from? Who collected or conducted them? Who funded the research? The best articles will reveal this information. 

 

13_ If headlines or charts tout "the worst/best/highest/lowest in X years, do some research. More data might show that if you go back 2 or 3 times "X" years ago, "X years ago" things really weren't so good or bad as the headlines would lead you to believe. 

 

14_

Learn to recognize press releases. Corporations and organizations regularly issue press releases to distribute their side of an issue or story to the media. Some media outlets reprint these releases as "news" without doing their homework or any investigative journalism. Press releases tend to follow a predictable formula of 1. Introductory paragraph 2.a single quote from a company executive or spokesperson 3. summary paragraph or "for more information" reference/link. Also common are "MAT" releases which are actually advertisements disguised as "soft" journalism and run by typically smaller-market newspapers. Look for bylines from "News USA," "ARA" or "NAPS"- these are "fake" news.

                 Why We Love Bad News 

            Understanding Negativity Bias

Every second of every day our brain is bombarded by way too much data than we can possibly process and because nothing is more important to our survival to the species than survival all our visual data, auditory data is

funneled to a sliver of the temporal lobe called the amygdala.

The amygdala is our danger detector.  It’s our early warning system.  It literally combs through all of the sensory input looking for any kind of a danger on putting in on high alert and it evolved during an era of human evolution that was of the immediate type, the tiger in the bush.  You would hear a rustle in the leaves and you would think tiger, not wind and the point—one percent of the time that it was a tiger it saved your life, but today the amygdala literally calls our attention to all the negative stories and if you see a thousand stories you’re going to focus on the negative ones and the media takes advantage of this and you know the old saw if it bleeds it leads.  Well that’s why 90% of the news in the newspaper and on television is negative because that’s what we pay attention to.

And as it turns out we also have a number of what are called cognitive biases.  The Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman first addressed these and these cognitive biases keep us negative.  We have a negativity bias, which is the tendency to give far more information to negative details than positive ones and the confirmation bias, which is our tendency to selectively look at information or see information that confirms our preexisting notions, which is fine except that our preexisting notions are typically negative and therefore, we’re reconfirming our negative expectations. 

So ultimately we are kept in this negative state of mind and when the amygdala goes on high alert because much of the dangers around us today are probabilistic dangers, a pandemic might strike, an asteroid might hit, we end up in a situation that our amygdala is always on high alert and it’s screening out the positive news and allowing in the negative news. 

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