Is this you? Your morning starts not with coffee, but with anxiously checking your news feed for good news, something positive? Within 15 minutes, you’re overcome with:

You feel a sense of anger, frustration and irritation from scanning the latest news. You have a feeling that the hellish world has gone slightly (or not even slightly, but quite thoroughly) crazy.

Anxiety because you don’t understand how you can continue to live in this mess? How can you rise above it?

And so it goes, day after day. This pervasive feeling of helplessness, uncertainty, and global chaos grows inside you. Your mood and ability to rise above the chaos spiral downward.

But you see, here’s the thing. I am a mathematician, and I work with complex systems. I can say this: There’s not much real chaos in the world.

Then why do we feel the exact opposite? The world problem isn’t reality. The problem is how we mentally process it. Our brains are not evolutionarily adapted to this kind of data flow.

Fight or Flight: For ancient humans, awareness of imminent danger meant a tiger or a foe in the bushes nearby. Survival meant fight or flight, and you had only an instant to make your choice.

Today, news of a crisis on the other side of the world triggers the same biological response. There is a surge of adrenaline, a feeling of overwhelming anxiety.

But there’s nowhere to run. We confuse what we’re shown in the news, interpretations, and opinions with the reality.

Remember, much of the drama doesn’t actually affect you. Others realise it and, by distancing themselves from it, their lives are calm and enjoyable. The chaos is not the problem. The problem is your reaction to bad news and chaos.

We mistake Noise for the Signal. This is the main mistake. We’re trying to navigate the 21st-century world using a ‘firmware’ of thinking that has been outdated for hundreds of years.

Is it possible to update this firmware somehow? Wake up! For constantly upgrading our thinking, there’s a tool called Logic.

Yes, some people immediately associate it with Aristotle and something highly theoretical. But the point is that Logic isn’t some arcane theses from ancient textbooks.

In the modern world, Logic is, first and foremost, a filter. That is, an effective tool that allows you to: Stop and separate fact from emotion.

See a pattern where others see chaos and panic. Understand: ‘This is just noise; it’s not affecting my life right now.’

Even and especially if they try to convince you that it is. Let’s return to the beginning of the post. When you have the right mental approach foundation, news ceases to be a source of stress. It becomes simply data. You find a foothold, even in a storm.

Try this simple exercise today. When the latest news triggers anxiety, ask yourself:

‘Is this a fact or someone else’s interpretation of a fact?’ In 90% of cases, you’ll discover that the event itself didn’t frighten you. Instead, you were frightened by what others are saying about it.

Secondly, Logic is a powerful tool that allows you to make effective and efficient decisions under conditions of uncertainty.

So, if you need to keep reality in focus, rather than its conflicting interpretations from different experts. And, at the same time, have a clear algorithm for solving complex nonlinear problems.

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