Perspective
Only when you stop doing something, and do something else completely different, can you look back and see the thing you were doing for what it was. Most people call this perspective. You can gain small doses of perspective in the strangest of places too. You can talk to the person that gives you your coffee in the morning — I mean really talk to them. You see life, just momentarily, in the shoes of another.
It can be the server in the cafe, the train driver, the nurse, the beggar on the street, the banker, the doorman, the musician in the subway, the neighbours, the children, the family. Perspective is cruel and enlightening.
Positivity should require substantiation too
In areas where the majority is neutral and unbiased, people making positive assertions are rarely pressured into substantiation, but those making negative comments are frequently scolded for not citing sources and substantiating their claims. It seems a negative POV is initially suspected incorrect, while a positive view is not questioned to the same extent. Note that this only seems to occur in topics and areas where the default view is neutral. Things like utility products, novels, etc. Not things like the iPhone, a politician, or an ideology — these things tend to polarise opinions, and so are not good examples.
An example of this occurrence is product reviews.
> This is an awesome product. It does everything I need it to do.
Compared with:
> This is a rubbish product. It doesn’t do anything I need it to do.
The second one seems more hostile, angry and totally unsubstantiated. But, in fact, they’re both unsubstantiated. We don’t think to question the former as it puts the product in a positive light.
… and concluded that, in 1997, premature deaths saved the Czech Republic $147 dollars through the deaths of smokers who would not live to use healthcare or housing for the elderly.
