We don’t often see the world as it really is – we see it through the filters we are fed. News feeds, social media and personal experiences create our picture of reality, but that picture is often distorted. We see a world of disasters and crises because that is the reality that sells best. Sensational news generates clicks, and clicks generate revenue.
Imagine that you have never been to the sea but constantly see pictures of beaches filled with plastic waste. Eventually you start to believe that the entire ocean is a single garbage dump, even though the facts show otherwise. The ocean covers two-thirds of the Earth, but only a small part of all the world’s plastic (0.3%) ends up there. Although that amount is far too large, there is a huge difference between seeing the problem in its true proportions and believing that entire oceans have long been lost.
The news doesn’t tell us a lie, there are places in the ocean where there are huge amounts of plastic floating, but it doesn’t tell us the whole truth either. What we see is often an enlargement of a part of reality – the one that engages and scares us the most.
When our picture of reality is not correct
The problem with getting a distorted picture of reality is that it affects the way we act. If we believe that the world is going to end in plastic disasters or that forests are burning everywhere all the time, we can lose hope. What does it matter what we do, if everything is already destroyed? Or should we put all the focus on plastic because there are too few pictures of the lack of insects in certain parts of nature?
But if we instead see real facts, we can understand which measures actually make a difference. For example, focusing on where plastic pollution comes from, rather than just showing scary pictures, can lead to solutions. For example, we know that a large part of the plastic waste in the oceans comes from a few rivers in Asia and Africa. Interventions there can have a far greater effect than blaming an individual who happens to use a plastic bag in Sweden. Focusing on microplastics, which are invisible, may have a greater impact. There is a big difference between panicking based on misconceptions and acting strategically based on real facts.
How it should be – creating a better future
When we see the world for what it is, we can also start asking ourselves: how should it be? This is where real change begins.
If we know that the biggest sources of pollution come from a few rivers, we can work on solutions – through better waste management, international collaborations and technological innovations. If we understand that climate change is a complex issue that is not just about emissions but also about land use, biodiversity and economic incentives, we can focus on interventions that make a real difference.
Knowing the truth does not mean ignoring the problems – it means understanding them so that we can solve the right problems first.
A filter for reality
We all need to develop a filter where we ask ourselves: What part of reality am I seeing right now? What part am I not seeing? When we learn to question the image and perception we get from images, we are less easily fooled by sensational news.
A world where we act on real facts – not on fear and misconceptions – is a world where we can create change. When we see how things really are, we can also see how they should be. And it is there, at the intersection of facts and vision, that we have the opportunity to build a better future.
