We get so much wrong

We think things are worse than they really are

This week, as we continue exploring books on human psychology, we will return to Jonathan Haidt’s book, “The Happiness Hypothesis.” Haidt published this book in 2006, and one of his early observations still feels relevant. People consistently believe the world is getting worse even when the data shows dramatic improvement.

The late 1990s were, by many measures, a golden age. The Cold War was over. Democracy and human rights were expanding. Apartheid had ended. Israel and Palestine were benefiting from the Oslo Accords. Even North Korea showed faint signs of opening. In the United States, crime and unemployment had plummeted. The stock market soared. Some economists believed we were on track to eliminate the national debt. Even cockroaches were disappearing from cities thanks to Combat.

And yet as John Ganz noted in the book we covered in February. something had already begun to unravel beneath the surface. Then came the internet, which poured an accelerant on every anxiety, grievance, and moral panic. Haidt argues that when real threats recede, we search for substitute villains. Americans began fixating on drug dealers, child abductors, and shadowy cultural enemies. The far-right vilified gay people (now trans people). The far-left vilified racists and homophobes. These villains were often invisible, abstract, and rarely encountered as individual human beings. Evil became a contagion, something sensed online more than witnessed in real life.

People want to believe they are on a mission from God or fighting for a secular good. Once a group defines the other, unity becomes easier, righteousness becomes intoxicating, and nuance disappears. Haidt also points out that many modern Christians misunderstand their own theological tradition. They adopt a Manichaean worldview (God and Satan locked in eternal combat) rather than the far more complex and paradoxical Christian view of evil articulated by Augustine and others. The simplicity of pure good vs. pure evil is emotionally satisfying, but psychologically dangerous.

Roy Baumeister’s research in “Evil: Inside Human Cruelty and Aggression” reinforces this idea. People who commit acts we label as evil, rarely see themselves that way. They believe they are responding to provocation, defending honor, or protecting their group. Many murders begin as escalating cycles of retaliation. The myth of evil doers vs. innocent victims blinds us to the real truth. It is the belief that we are good and therefore justified. High self‑esteem mixed with moral idealism is a combustible combination.

Raising self‑esteem can be healthy, but it can also produce unstable narcissism. And to ignite mass atrocity, you need idealism. It can be the belief that you are building utopia or defending your homeland. When a moral mission and legal rules conflict, people choose the mission. Haidt’s deeper point is that our world is not made of rocks and trees but of symbols in the form of insults, opportunities, betrayals, status markers, saints, and sinners. Our minds deliver constant flashes of approval and disapproval, certainty and outrage. It is all so silly, and so tragic. Because this moralism and righteousness is what makes lasting peace nearly impossible.

Haidt’s advice is to see much of this as a game and stop taking it so seriously. That’s wise counsel when dealing with everyday moral drama. But when mass atrocities are underway, detachment is harder to practice. Still, understanding these patterns matters. This is the final piece of Haidt’s foundation. Just remember the elephant, our intuitive, emotional mind is wired for bias, tribalism, and moral storytelling. Next month, we’ll look directly at a list of these cognitive biases and how they shape our perception of reality. And then, in Month Five, we’ll pivot to something very different. What happens when the mind is not defending itself but is fully engaged in a meaningful challenge. Haidt shows us how the mind goes wrong so it will be fun to cover a book that will show us how the mind goes right.