Your Anger Makes Other People Rich

Getting angry is completely normal. Every single human born with a brain that functions normally has the capability to be angry. As babies, we cry when we don’t get what we want, we throw tantrums as children when mom doesn’t let us play; anger has been with us all along with other emotions.

Anger is also an easy trigger that prompts our self-defense, both mentally and physically. Depending on the situation, we could be clenching our fist or rage typing under a twitter thread. Most of us recognize the latter scenario because who doesn’t have a social media account these days?

It’s easy to be enraged because the Internet is a platform which content can be from everyone meant for everyone. Marketers are also using this easy-to-use platform to create ads and invite buyers to spend money on them. The best way to get people to click on their sites is to play with their emotions.

Nothing else works as good as emotional arousal when it comes to getting people’s attention. And people are particularly attentive towards negativity, so anger is a very common way to get people to act.

And it could be anger towards anyone – maybe they are selling products to get you to stop using plastic. Maybe it’s something to protect you against a rapist or maybe it’s a tip to prevent potential partners from ghosting you. Anything about these topics stirs up anger, disappointment and other negative emotions.

Being angry is not good. Getting angry causes your heart to pump harder, raises blood pressure and increases the risk of a heart attack. People, when they are angry, easily makes the worst decisions in their life, hurt people they don’t mean to hurt and often feel tremendous regrets after.

A TED talk by Ryan Martin once says that it’s healthy to be angry because it prompts your body to stop something and act quickly. But corporations are benefiting from things like this, and none of us wants to benefit them after they play with our emotions like this.

Here are some ways to prevent anger from consuming you the next time you come across a clickbait that plays with your emotions:

• Get off the Internet – no matter how careful you are, there are always chances that you come across content that makes your blood boils.
• The news isn’t the place to find the truth – while they have fact checkers, it’s very easy for news and even ‘reliable’ content portals to fall for fake news. And at that point, you’ve already killed millions of cells for getting angry over nothing.
• Don’t let someone from an opposite side of your opinion anger you. A difference in belief is common wherever you go and however you live. Change the topic of conversation or leave the place. Corporations benefit when people discuss them way too often.
• Find the facts and truths of things.
• Focus on how you can help the victims instead of punishing the perpetrators.