#BBC Doomscrolling: Why do we do it? - 6 Minute Englis

[Music] six minutes English from the BBC [Music] hello this is six minutes English from BBC learning English I'm Sam and I'm Neil have you heard the expression Doom scrolling Neil it's when people spend a lot of time reading or scrolling a mobile phone or computer screen in order to read negative news stories Stories full of Doom I hate to admit it but I do sometimes Doom scroll well don't feel too bad Neil because you're not alone research from the University of California found that people all over the world Doom scroll regardless of culture what's more

there may even be evolutionary reasons why we're attracted to bad news in this program we'll be investigating why we feel compelled to look at and even seek out bad news and as usual we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well but before that I have a question for you Neil Doom scrolling is a very modern idea which is only possible with the 24 7 non-stop cycle of news reporting so according to international news agency Reuters what has been the top global news story of 2023 so far is it a the war in Ukraine B increasing

prices and inflation or C Prince Harry's autobiography I think the answer is an issue that's affecting everyone inflation okay Neil I'll reveal the answer at the end of the program now it might be true that the non-stop news cycle makes Doom scrolling possible but that doesn't explain why we do it Anthropologist thinks the answer May lie in human evolution here she outlines the problem for BBC Radio 4 program why do we do that we go searching out for bad news looking for things that will make us feel ick inside and so many of us do

it is it a result of 24 7 doom on tap on our phones or is it some kind of compulsion that comes from somewhere Way Way Back reading bad news stories makes us feel ick an informal American phrase which means feel sick often because of something disgusting or disturbing it's a feeling caused by the fact that thanks to the internet now we have the news on tap easily available so that you can have as much of it as you want whenever you want but Ella thinks that's not the whole story there's another theory way back

in human history when we lived in caves it seemed everything could kill us from wild animals to eating the wrong mushroom knowing what the dangers were and how to avoid them was vital to our survival and from an evolutionary perspective survival is everything as a result we humans naturally pay attention to the negative stuff something Ella calls negativity bias but while cavemen only knew what was happening in their local area nowadays we know the bad news from all over the world here's Ella again discussing this with her friend TV presenter Clara anfo for BBC Radio

4 program why do we do that you know before it would be like I don't know I'm assuming you'd go to the neighbor's cave and they'd only know like the bad news from like you know that particular Mountain yes now it's like let me tell you about the really bad information and situation that's going on at some Island somewhere and it's just the good news doesn't make up for it it really doesn't and it's I think trauma's romanticized really it doesn't kill you makes you stronger yeah this is a test I think where we're conditioned

to believe that negative experiences shape us more than joyous ones reading bad news from around the world can depress us and Ella thinks that the little good news we do hear doesn't make up for the depressing news to make up for something means to compensate for something bad with something good good news is hard to find in fact Clara thinks Society has romanticized bad traumatic news if you romanticize something you talk about it in a way that makes it sound better than it really is connected to this is the saying what doesn't kill you makes

you stronger meaning that by going through difficult experiences in life people build up strength and resilience for the future maybe it's best to stop Doom scrolling altogether but with so much bad news pouring into our mobile phones every day it's not easy okay it's time to reveal the answer to my question Neil I asked you what news agency Reuters considers the top news story of 2023 so far and I guessed it was B inflation which was the correct answer although there's still plenty of time for 2023 to bring us more Doom hopefully along with a

little positivity too okay let's recap the vocabulary we've learned from this program about Doom scrolling spending lots of time reading bad news stories on your phone feeling ick is American slang for feeling sick often because of something disgusting or disturbing when something is on tap it's easily available so that you can have as much of it as you want the phrasal verb to make up for something means to compensate for something bad with something good when we romanticize something we make it sound better than it is and finally the saying what doesn't kill you makes

you stronger means that by going through difficult life experiences people build up strength for the future once again six minutes are up but if Doom scrolling's not for you remember you can find lots of positive news stories to build your vocabulary here at six minutes English don't forget that there is more to BBC learning English than six minute English why not try to improve your vocabulary through the language in news headlines try the news review video on our website or download the podcast but that's bye for now bye six minutes English from the BBC [Music]