Shankar Vedantam explains why one bad moment can wreck an otherwise good day. Psychologist Paul Rozin used a cockroach in fine wine as a metaphor: bad events cancel out good ones, but good events can't redeem the bad. Our brains are wired for threat and disgust, making it hard to shake the negative.
Why is it that one rude comment can ruin an otherwise good day? The psychologist Paul Rozin has a striking metaphor for this. Drop a cockroach into a glass of fine wine and the wine is ruined. But pour that same fine wine over a cockroach and it does nothing to improve the cockroach. Good cannot cancel out bad the way that bad cancels out good. Our minds are built to respond viscerally to things we find disgusting or threatening. This response is designed to keep us safe, so you cannot just switch it off. But there are strategies that can help so that one cockroach doesn't have to ruin your whole day. This topic is covered in much more detail in the Hidden Brain podcast. It's the episode titled, Why Am I Unhappy?
