I'm interested in both personal better/worse and societal better/worse.
If humans focused on what was going well, they would perhaps feel more content inside, but I can't help thinking of lemmings. That's what we would be. Just happily follow that leader, right over a cliff. Or at best, content with what one has achieved makes one stagnant. There's a limit to how much contentment we should feel.
By focusing more on what is wrong is how we improve everything, constantly.
I think it is fair to say, the only reason living conditions for mankind keep getting better, overall, is because humans are never happy with the status quo. Yes, for every improvement we soon discover we are paying a price. But then we solve those problems. And throughout this process, we are living better than we were before, even as we stuggle to solve the problems we have created.
Good question, Kirk. I reckon they might get better because for 'things to be going well' problems must have been solved, not so? Therefore there would be an understanding - policy and practice - under-girding this progress, and it would be available for scrutiny. The issue would be whether this understanding might be transferable, or even relevant, to those areas where things are going wrong. Certainly the confidence and emotional buoyancy accruing to success is a valuable attribute and spills over to nerve endeavors against problems which are proving less tractable. This probably applies equally to the personal and social. I look forward to reading what others think.
I believe that democracy with universal suffrage, that is based on the right to vote of all adults, is the best form of government possible. Unfortunately, many politicians all over the world once democratically elected to the highest offices of the state tend to legislate in such a way as to respond to the interests of their constituents sometimes to the detriment of the totality of the people and sometimes even to the detriment of their own nation. For these reasons I believe that humans must primarily focus on the candidates to be elected to the highest offices of the state. Personally I think it is more efficient and profitable to work on improving and remedying at the things that go wrong.
We are very cautious of the torn parts of clothes and we do well to sew them and not the untorn parts. However, we always ensure that the latter sections of the cloth are protected from tearing.
'What is going wrong in the society' (torn sections of a cloth) should be our first angle of focus so that we can solve them to increase productivity and development.
However, we do not turn our eyes off the 'going well' areas of development (untorn parts of a cloth) because we can't risk a turning back situation. So we need to put up supervisory and monitoring activities and seek new ways to increase the successes or strengths of our untorn clothes of development too!
I think if a person thought of a solution better than it happened by mistake
If humans focused on what was going well, they would perhaps feel more content inside, but I can't help thinking of lemmings. That's what we would be. Just happily follow that leader, right over a cliff. Or at best, content with what one has achieved makes one stagnant. There's a limit to how much contentment we should feel.
By focusing more on what is wrong is how we improve everything, constantly.
I think it is fair to say, the only reason living conditions for mankind keep getting better, overall, is because humans are never happy with the status quo. Yes, for every improvement we soon discover we are paying a price. But then we solve those problems. And throughout this process, we are living better than we were before, even as we stuggle to solve the problems we have created.
I think that focusing on negative or bad things may lead to a lot of dispair. Within health care we have started to put more focus on improvements and positive aspects. It is more motivating and encouraging than telling people what not to do, what is bad or poor. Not saying that we should ignore problems, but focusing on detoriation of health do not always lead to less anxiety, worry or improved quality of life for the individual. And even on a societal level, looking at things that are going well should be done more often. We have a tendency to focus on catastrophys, disasters and when things go really bad. I am not saying that we should shut our eyes for those things, but why not learn from positive experiences as well as bad ones? In the best of worlds no bad things would happen, because we would have prevented them from doing so. I don't know if the link below works, but please, check out this ted talk.
https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen#t-639304
Dear @Kirk, you do have similar questions with fine answers at Quora.
Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what's going well rather than what's going wrong?
https://www.quora.com/Would-things-get-better-or-worse-if-humans-focused-on-whats-going-well-rather-than-whats-going-wrong
This article may be useful.
Why Successful People Focus on What's Going Right, Not What's Going Wrong
A positive outlook has powerful benefits.
It's human nature to focus on the negative. That doesn't always serve us well...
https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/why-successful-people-focus-on-whats-going-right-not-whats-going-wrong.html
Enjoying champagne on the deck is nice, but we also need to keep a lookout for the icebergs.
Since worst/good are normative and relative in nature I think it will be better to pay attention to both the aspects. Though I am also tilted towards focusing on what's going on well but I do not think that it is sufficient.
I dont think so....whether its personal front or with reference to society....one should not concentrate on what is going on well
rather concentrate on what is going wrong and why
unless you rectify the problems....you wont have a peaceful life
it will be like travelling in a boat with a hole...
you have to cover the hole for a safe ride on waters
Philadelphia, PA
Dear MacGregor & readers,
A good question; and there are already several good answers on this thread. I would only emphasize that there is always a certain need for problem solving. It is not to be avoided.
Focusing on what is going right does, of course have its charms and value. We have to be wary of burying ourselves in problems and a consequential loss of perspective on those very problems.
I'd suggest the wisdom of a back-and-forth dynamic. When people feel themselves overwhelmed by problems, then, of course they may need to take a break. Accentuating the positive is one way to do it.
H.G. Callaway
From a global perspective, things are getting better. Special praise to Amanda for citing Hans Rosling.
Dickson, Anthony and H.G. properly point out that the dichotomy inherent in the question is misplaced. Focusing either on what's going well or on what's going wrong misses the mark.
To optimize a mechanism of any kind, be it a business process, a political system or an organism, it is necessary to implement both positive and negative feedback loops. The great teacher, biological evolution, does both. It mercilessly punishes deleterious mutations while rewarding highly beneficial mutations most richly.
We suffer from false beliefs - as Hans Rosling nicely illustrates in the lecture cited by Amanda and also - with Ola Rosling - in this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg.
Dickson correctly observes that we need to fix what's broken and to preserve what works. Making progress at the rapid rate we currently experience is due to a focus on improving what already works. As the Roslings show, in recent times humanity, on the whole, has, been performing quite well overall.
There is a necessity to focus on things that are going wrong, they may be serious enough to threaten stability and wellbeing.
Our earliest ancestors were problem solvers par excellence and we are the beneficiaries of their efforts. The earliest humans who devised tool making and fire saved our species from being just another species and started the path towards the technologies and societies we have today.
Problem solving is in our genes, it is why we can live everywhere on the planet and even off it.
The reason things go well at all is because we can sort out the things that don't.
Dear All,
I think one should/can focus on both of them. Often circumstances or our interests decide which one may be preferred, positive or negative facts. Not to speak about that often we can but late realise what is good and what is wrong.
The two are very important. On one hand, focusing on what is going right will further improve on the success or gains recorded. It could also prevent arising or impending problems. This is in line with the popular adage, "prevention is better than cure"
on the other hand, focusing on what is going wrong will help in amending or discarding what is going wrong. The two are effective mechanism for problem identification.
The two are very important. On one hand, focusing on what is going right will further improve on the success or gains recorded. It could also prevent arising or impending problems. This is in line with the popular adage, "prevention is better than cure"
on the other hand, focusing on what is going wrong will help in amending or discarding what is going wrong. The two are effective mechanism for problem identification.
Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what was wrong? When you focus on what's good, things would be fine. Also, one must only look at what is not positively good, to correct it, to improve, to forgive, etc.
Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?
If resources are available & through specialization, we should focus on both i.e. focusing on what was going well will provide the benefits of continuous improvement. Focusing on the bad / what was going wrong can improve our lacking to be on par with others. If resources are inadequate, we can tackle one at a time but with the aim to cover both.
I think there are some good ideas in this thread. I believe that you have to focus on both: we have to recognize what are the problem areas which need to be addressed, and in seeking solutions to these problems we have to keep in mind what is going well so that our solutions don't disrupt what's going well. Furthermore, in many cases we might be able to apply principles from areas we're doing well in to solve problems in other areas that need improvement. So it's not enough to simply look at on or the other, both need to be taken into account.
Perhaps some of this is also a matter of semantics. So yes, I agree with what Ljubomir points out, that successful people focus on what's going right, so they can build from there. But these same people would never be successful, except for the urge to fill unfilled needs or desires. You won't be successful from sitting on your laurels.
The tactic might be to build on what works. The strategy has to be to discern what is missing, and to devise ways of filling that void. So to me, that still says you're concentrating on what's wrong, with the status quo.
What is important is that people think and focus on what is going on and happen negatively or positively, and live facts, and do not watch them remotely, and are not indifferent and preoccupied themselves with daily burdens, then they can make a difference
In general if things go better people feel happy and prefer to do that and advise everybody to follow that.
Suppose got -ve result never see that side.
But in life we cannot say that we always get better. Either worse follow better or better follow worse. Depends on time. Time is not in our hands.
"The time element is so strong that no one can escape its influence"-Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON)
It's a rare pleasure to see A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada cited at ResearchGate. I appreciate the upbeat tone.
An equally valid statement of Mike Rawlings' dictum would be "It may get better before it gets worse, but it will get worse".
For those captive in the cycle of birth and death and rebirth, the statements are equivalent.
I fully agree with the views of @ Ljubomir Jacić, because a positive thinking makes all the difference.
In general, the views of @ Laurence Wright is acceptable because a shift in focus from the negatives to positives will have a positive impact on social and personal aspects both.
Both factors need to be taken on hand and attended to in order to have a better place on earth to live and in order not to be surprised by those things that would have been neglected.
We all must focus on how to make things better rather than thinking other things.
Yes, we should focus on positive thinking as dear @Cecilia has suggested. That is the bet way to overcome negative thoughts!
Everything is good - this is a well-known saying of advertising or psychology to strengthen self-confidence of those who live in safte relationships. When we look at the living conditions in a community, a country, or the world, a lot, perhaps most, does not go well. The cries of the suffering humans, ethnic groups, nations are not audible to those who concentrate only on what is going well. If we try to improve the social situation, this is the way to help progress. If I focus only on what is going well, I don't need any progress, and the disadvantaged in the world are not being helped.
Dear respected Kirk MacGregor,
I prefer focusing and working on what is going wrong.. Focusing on what is good but neglecting the wrong would only make things worse.
Best regards.
Kifilideen.
It is a life experience that in crises it is better to focus on something better. But when it comes to other people's bad life experiences, we should not advise them to think of something better simply because it is trivial. But we should be open, ready to talk if necessary and help if our help is desired.
to improve our case, being realistic is the best; knowing good points and bad points can illuminate our status.
Both strategies are right: encouraging the right things and preventing the wrong.
RE: Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?
If people focused only on what was going well, they would not deal with the things that are going wrong and those things would accumulate and make the overall situation worse. If people focused on the things going wrong, they might be motivated to do something about them, thus things could get better.
I think both should be taken care of. I mean both the wrong things and those already fixed should be looked after. Those things that are wrong should be give appropriate attention to fix it and those already fixed should be looked after to make sure things done go wrong with it.
Things would get better if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong.
Really, excellent answers provided by my colleagues above. Thank you very much for your valuable additions.
Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?
As a human being, we are inclined to think more on wrong happenings in our life and surroundings and forget to focus on the blessings we have; for example if we have difficult work situation, we should not consider it as our whole life, but only the part of life, and focus on the blessings of life like caring family, fortunes, excellent cognition and good health, all that we have; our suffering will be far less! but, yes, it is not easy to ignore it completely, as difficult work situation does darkens our brightest things.
I like the answer of Karl Pfeifer . It is answer that is consentaneous with my previous answer that we MUST learn from failures. Then, things could go far better.
Absolutely right when one focusing on good points, obviously everything goes well..
In science and in life in general it is important to focus on both things going well and going bad - we can learn from both. Sometimes, great scientific discoveries are also made from paying attention when things go wrong or when mistakes are made. Nevertheless, as an attitude of mind in life in general it's best to focus on the good and not focus (complain) too much about the bad, e.g. the well-known example with a glass of water - is it half full or half empty? And what do you focus on - the water which is already there or the water which isn't there? That said, figuratively, you could of course try to fill the rest of the glass or even empty it - scientific discoveries may be made then...! :-)
I've often wondered whether we would be able to find contributing causes of specific psychiatric syndromes not only by investigating the pathophysiology of symptoms, but, also, by investigating the advantages that the syndrome brings:
Depression - elicits care and attention
Mania - allows for quick thinking and quick action, stimulates others to quicker action
Anxiety - protects from dangerous situations
Obsessions and compulsions - ensures perfection
Schizophrenia - encourages non-linear thinking, creativity
Absolutely! Lots of advantages to ADHD. The main disadvantage is the inability to sit in a classroom and not move.
Ordinary People Focus on the Outcome. Extraordinary People Focus On the Process...
"Ignore what other people are doing. Ignore what’s going on around you. There is no competition. There is no objective benchmark to hit. There is simply the best you can do — that’s all that matters.” -Ryan Holiday
https://theascent.pub/ordinary-people-focus-on-the-outcome-extraordinary-people-focus-on-the-process-6d9a0888df01
Emmanuel, regarding your post, please, grant us the right answer. Thanks. By the way, 65 answers are not right!!!
In any scientific research, neutrality must be adhered to, and data analysis must be taken. A sufficient number of samples must be taken for evaluation, so what should be done ''what was going " in general" regardless of whether it is positive or negative (going well or going wrong)
The programming has answered this question directly and simply: you have to correct all 'what’s going wrong' in order to have everything become 'going well'. Unless you correct all the bugs in your code, it simply won't work. The real life is somewhat similar... (to some approximation, of course).
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