Can positivity ever go viral?

Negativity diffuses significantly farther and faster than positivity.

- RAM KRISHNA SINHA

Yet, with active goodwill, we can very well spread positivity.“A lie’, said Mark Twain “can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” Indeed, in our age of social media, negativity has acquired accelerated speed to spread, and takes no time to become viral. Be it misinformation, disinformation, or hate news, we see, with surprise and unease, the way they travel. At the same time, we get upset with the difficulty positivity encounters to radiate itself.

Here, it is instructive to first understand some basic characteristics of negativity.

Negativity is light, moves up and around fast. On the other hand, positivity has weight and depth. It remains low, moves slow.

Negativity is spicy. False news, or instance, triggers excitement, surprise or disgust, prompting gossip and rumours, for a longer period. Positivity is plain, and at best, just generates a short-term eel-good factor of happiness, hope or trust. Negativity has nuisance value and causes immediate harm. Embedded with “negative bias,” our brains are wired to pay more attention to negative stimuli. Negativity, thus, can disturb us immediately. As a benign force, positivity takes time to assimilate and flourish.

Negativity comes naturally. Nobody, or example, teaches us how to be jealous or angry. But we need to cultivate positive traits like calmness, civility, or kindness.