It is way too easy to believe everything is falling apart. You wake up, scroll through a feed of forest fires, economic crashes, and some guy yelling about the end of the world in a 15-second clip, and suddenly, the air feels heavier. It sucks. Honestly, the "doomscrolling" phenomenon isn't just a catchy term; researchers at the University of Florida found that consuming just a few minutes of negative news can sour your entire mood for hours. But here is the thing: the world is still beautiful, and that isn’t some cheesy Hallmark sentiment. It’s a literal, measurable reality that gets buried under the noise.
Think about the sheer scale of what’s actually going right. We are living in a time where human ingenuity and the raw, unyielding power of nature are constantly doing incredible things. You just have to know where to look.
The unexpected resilience of the planet
We hear a lot about the "sixth extinction" and the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. Those are real problems. I’m not here to tell you they aren't. However, the narrative that nature is just giving up is flat-out wrong. Look at the Ozone Layer. Back in the 80s, it was the ultimate environmental bogeyman. People were terrified. But because of the Montreal Protocol, a rare moment of global cooperation, the ozone is actually on track to fully recover by around 2066 in the Antarctic. That is a massive win. It’s proof that when we stop being idiots, the world heals.
Nature is surprisingly scrappy. Take the "rewilding" projects happening across Europe. In places like the Oostvaardersplassen in the Netherlands or the Knepp Estate in West Sussex, land that was once stripped for intensive farming is now thriving with biodiversity. They brought back beavers, bison, and wolves to places they hadn't been seen in centuries. The result? The ecosystems didn't just survive; they exploded with life. These aren't just patches of grass. They are complex, humming machines of beauty that remind us that the world is still beautiful if we just give it an inch of breathing room.
Then there is the ocean. We talk about plastic—and yeah, there’s too much of it—but have you looked at the Humpback Whale populations lately? In the 1960s, there were maybe 450 of them left in the western South Atlantic. Today? There are over 25,000. They are back to nearly pre-whaling levels. That’s a miracle in slow motion.
Why our brains are wired to ignore the good stuff
Evolution kind of screwed us over when it comes to being happy. Our ancestors survived because they were hyper-aware of the tiger in the bushes, not because they spent three hours admiring a sunset. This is what psychologists call "negativity bias." Basically, your brain treats a bad piece of news like a life-threatening emergency and a good piece of news like a pleasant suggestion.
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This bias is why we need to be intentional about noticing that the world is still beautiful. It’s a conscious act of rebellion against our own biology. If you spend your whole day looking for reasons why things are terrible, you will find 1,000 of them. If you look for the kid helping an old lady cross the street or the way the light hits the trees at 4:00 PM, you’ll find that too. It’s about focus.
Science says we are actually getting better (mostly)
If you look at the long-term data from people like Steven Pinker or the late Hans Rosling, the "everything is terrible" narrative starts to crumble. Rosling’s book Factfulness is basically a giant slap in the face to our pessimistic assumptions. Did you know that the percentage of the world living in extreme poverty has dropped from nearly 40% in 1990 to less than 10% today? Or that child mortality rates have plummeted globally?
This isn't just about money. It’s about human connection. The internet gets a bad rap—often deservedly so—but it has also created the largest repository of human knowledge and art in history. You can literally listen to a symphony recorded in Vienna or watch a live stream of the Northern Lights from your couch in Ohio. That is objectively cool. We have more access to the world’s beauty than any generation of humans that ever walked the earth.
- Renewable Energy: In 2023, renewable energy sources like wind and solar grew at their fastest rate in two decades.
- Medical Breakthroughs: We are on the verge of potentially curing sickle cell anemia and certain types of blindness through CRISPR gene editing.
- Community: Small-scale acts of kindness are happening billions of times a day, they just don't make the evening news because "Local Man Feeds Stray Cat" doesn't get clicks.
Finding the world is still beautiful in the mundane
You don't need a plane ticket to Patagonia to see that the world is still beautiful. Real beauty is often found in the "micro-moments." It’s the smell of coffee. It’s the way your dog’s ears flop when they’re excited. It’s the fact that humans, despite all our flaws, still write poetry and make incredibly stupid memes just to make each other laugh.
There is a Japanese concept called Wabi-sabi, which is about finding beauty in imperfection and transience. It’s the crack in the sidewalk where a wildflower grows. It’s the weathered hands of a grandfather. When we stop demanding that the world be perfect, we finally see that it’s already breathtaking.
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Think about the sheer mathematical improbability of your existence. You are a collection of atoms that came from dying stars, arranged in such a way that you can perceive color, feel heat, and experience love. The odds against you existing are astronomical. Yet, here you are, reading this on a glowing screen. If that isn't beautiful, I don't know what is.
The role of art and human expression
Art is the ultimate proof of our better nature. Even in the darkest times—wars, depressions, pandemics—humans keep making things. We paint, we dance, we sing. During the lockdowns, people were singing from balconies in Italy. That wasn't "productive" in an economic sense, but it was essential. It was a declaration that the world is still beautiful even when we are stuck inside.
Look at the James Webb Space Telescope. We spent billions of dollars and decades of work just to look at the stars more clearly. We wanted to see the "Pillars of Creation" and galaxies that existed billions of years ago. Why? Because we are a species of explorers and dreamers. We have a fundamental need to witness beauty, even if it’s trillions of miles away.
Practical ways to shift your perspective
If you feel like you’ve lost the ability to see the good, you aren't broken. You’re just overstimulated. The world is still beautiful, but it requires a bit of maintenance to keep seeing it.
Start by auditing your digital intake. If an account makes you feel like the world is a dumpster fire, unfollow it. It’s not "staying informed" if it’s just making you paralyzed with anxiety. Instead, look for sources like Reasons to be Cheerful (founded by David Byrne) or The Progress Network. These aren't "toxic positivity" sites; they are evidence-based platforms that report on actual solutions and progress.
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Go outside. I know, it sounds like something your mom would tell you. But the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, or "forest bathing," has been shown in clinical studies to lower cortisol levels and boost the immune system. You don't have to hike a mountain. Just sit in a park. Watch the birds. Notice how the trees don't care about your inbox.
Acknowledging the darkness without drowning in it
Being aware that the world is still beautiful doesn’t mean being a naive optimist. It means being a "possibilist," a term Hans Rosling loved. It’s acknowledging that things can be bad and getting better at the same time. The world has huge, terrifying problems—climate change, inequality, loneliness. But we have never been better equipped to solve them.
If we give up on the idea that the world is beautiful, we lose the motivation to protect it. You don't fight for something you think is already lost. You fight for the whale populations that are coming back, for the kids who deserve clean air, and for the sheer, ridiculous joy of being alive.
Actionable insights for a better outlook
Seeing the world through a more balanced lens isn't about lying to yourself. It's about accuracy. Here is how to actually integrate this into your life:
- The 3:1 Gratitude Rule: For every negative news story you consume, find three pieces of objective progress or beauty. This isn't just "happy thoughts"—it’s about balancing your brain’s natural negativity bias with actual data.
- Document the Mundane: Take a photo once a day of something "unimportantly" beautiful. A shadow, a puddle, a stranger's cool hat. It trains your brain to scan for beauty instead of threats.
- Engage in "Micro-Volunteering": Beauty is often something we create. Picking up one piece of trash on your walk or leaving a genuine compliment for a coworker creates a ripple effect.
- Practice Sensory Grounding: When you feel overwhelmed, stop and name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, and one you can taste. This pulls you out of the abstract "world-is-ending" headspace and back into the physical world, which is usually much calmer.
- Read Long-Form History: Read about how people lived 200 years ago. It provides a massive amount of context. You’ll realize that for most of human history, life was "nasty, brutish, and short." Today, despite our problems, we have unprecedented levels of safety, health, and opportunity.
The world is still beautiful because beauty isn't a static thing—it’s a verb. It’s something that happens in the interaction between the universe and your perception of it. Don't let a screen convince you that the light has gone out. It’s still there, flickering in every forest, every laboratory, and every act of human kindness. You just have to be willing to look.
References and Further Reading:
- Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling.
- The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker.
- The Montreal Protocol and its impact on the Ozone Layer (NASA / NOAA reports).
- The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List updates on Humpback Whale recovery.
- Studies on "Shinrin-yoku" (Forest Bathing) from the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo.
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