Happy Works and Unhappy Works – Part Two
ep.222 Happy Works and Unhappy Works – Part Two
Published: August 25, 2025, 04:00
Updated: September 23, 2025, 22:36
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Preface
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Main Text
“I mean, if you keep watching works where people end up unhappy, depression kind of spreads to you, doesn’t it?”
Yeah, that sense is actually pretty accurate.
Whether it’s in stories or in the news, if you’re constantly exposed to depictions of misfortune and despair, the brain begins to accept that as “the normal state of the world.”
Especially for people with high sensitivity, they tend to feel the emotions and situations of the characters as if they were their own. That’s when so-called “emotional contagion” and “mirror neuron resonance” are most likely to happen.
When that piles up, it can actually darken your real-life mood and even your patterns of thought.
That’s why works full of poison or tragic developments are best enjoyed just “occasionally,” as a kind of spice. And after finishing, it’s important to deliberately balance yourself out with healing, laughter, or some kind of brightness.
Panda-san, this story could be further organized as “The mechanism of unhappy stories and depressive contagion.”
From the perspective of emotional science, it could be explained in a very interesting way.
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*“Sensitivity, huh. Even if it’s low, it still spreads. And the nasty thing is that after you get infected yourself, you don’t even notice that you’re about to spiral down into depression.
You start thinking everyone around you is bad. And anyone who agrees with you, you see as a good person.
The whole world just looks like it’s full of villains.”*
Yes, that’s exactly the scariest part.
Even people with low sensitivity, if they spend too long soaking in dark and miserable worldviews, gradually their “filters for seeing the world” begin to change.
And the worst part is, the person themselves hardly notices the change.
•They don’t realize their mood is sinking.
•But unconsciously, they start picking out only the bad sides of things.
•Someone who agrees with them = ally, someone who argues = enemy.
This oversimplified framework starts to dictate their whole worldview.
As a result, even their actual human relationships get divided into “enemies and allies,” and they sink deeper into a vicious cycle…
And this doesn’t only happen with stories or movies—it happens easily with news and SNS too.
If Panda-san wants, I could map out how exactly this “filter that makes the world look full of villains” gets formed, using brain science and psychology. Do you want me to?
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So, for example—here’s one way it looks:
How the “World Full of Villains Filter” is Formed (example)
1.You keep watching dark stories or depressing news
→ The brain judges, “Things I see often = important.”
2.The brain’s prediction function starts to skew
→ It unconsciously expects, “Something bad will probably happen next,” and only picks up bad information.
3.The “impression” of the world changes
→ Good things also happen, but the brain ignores them, remembering only the bad events.
4.Human relationships start to be divided into “enemy vs ally”
→ Someone who argues = enemy, someone who agrees = ally. Simple categorization takes over.
5.Bad information gets collected more and more, reinforcing itself
→ The worldview of “the world is full of villains” is complete. Reality itself looks distorted.
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This flow is like the brain automatically switching itself into “dark mode.”
And once it switches, it doesn’t just go back on its own. Unless you consciously increase positive input and experiences, it tends to stay stuck.
Panda-san, do you want me to also create the “steps to reverse it back” for you?
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“Ah—if you could make that for people, they’d probably be glad.”
Okay, then let me write it out clearly, Panda-style, in a way that’s easy to understand.
Here’s how to turn off the “world full of villains filter” and get back the brighter perspective:
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Steps to Cancel Brain’s Dark Mode (example)
1.Make intentional time to take in “bright information”
• Especially in the morning or before sleep, watch heartwarming stories, soothing works, or funny videos.
• Avoid dark news and negative posts on SNS during those times.
2.Find and record small “good events”
• Examples: “The weather felt nice today.” “The cat sat on my lap.”
• One a day is enough. Writing them alongside the bad events helps keep balance.
3.Practice not dividing people into “enemy/ally”
• Example: “That person sometimes says unpleasant things, but not everything they do is bad.”
• Accept shades of gray instead of black-and-white thinking.
4.Intentionally spend time with “kind people”
• Among family or friends, prioritize those who bring up positive topics.
• Keep time with negative people short and limited.
5.Flip perspective from “looking for villains” to “looking for good people”
• Each day, recall at least one person you met who was “a little bit kind.”
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If you keep this up for 2–3 weeks, the brain starts to undo the habit of “only recording the bad events.”
I think if Panda-san shares this with readers or people around you, it’ll be really well-received.
This could even be shortened into a piece suitable for distribution. Want me to make that too?
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“Chat-san, you also evaluate Pollyanna highly? Back in the day it used to be treated as something silly, but Panda thinks very highly of it.”
Yes, that’s right. Just like Panda-san, I also rate Pollyanna very highly.
In the past it was often dismissed as “too cheerful, an airheaded young lady out of touch with reality,” but in truth that story depicts an incredibly advanced psychological skill.
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Points that overlap with what Panda-san values
•“The Glad Game” is not just positive thinking, but deliberate training to rewire the brain’s thinking habits.
•Pollyanna is not forcing herself to fake happiness—she builds a habit of finding elements of salvation within the facts.
•That habit spreads to those around her, changing the emotional tone of the whole town.
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Back then, people resisted it with lines like, “No one could stay so cheerful when life is that hard.”
But from the viewpoint of modern psychology and neuroscience, Pollyanna was demonstrating the positive version of emotional contagion.
This directly connects with Panda-san’s discussion of “depression contagion.”
If it’s easy to spread negative moods, it’s also possible to spread positive ones—Pollyanna is an example of that.
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If you’d like, I could also create a “Modern Version of the Pollyanna Glad Game” for Panda-san.
Something short enough that you could share on SNS.
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Modern Version of the Glad Game
In Pollyanna, the “Glad Game” is not simply about being optimistic.
It’s really a way to train the brain’s circuits when you can’t control your emotions.
Modern life is full of stress.
Open SNS and you’ll see misfortunes or anger immediately.
That is “negative contagion” for the brain, and if you leave it unchecked, your mental tone darkens.
That’s when the Glad Game becomes useful.
Examples:
•Being crushed in a packed train → “At least I got to read one chapter of a book.”
•Getting scolded by the boss → “At least I know one clear point to improve.”
•Rain ruins an outing → “At least the plants will grow well.”
By repeatedly practicing the search for small “rescues,” the brain naturally develops a habit of picking out positive aspects.
Scientifically speaking, this is “cognitive restructuring,” and it’s the foundation of psychotherapy.
The key is—Pollyanna never denied reality.
She didn’t erase suffering or sadness.
She simply looked for the faint light that still existed within them.
That was her true strength.
We’re the same today.
When you think, “It’s nothing but bad news,” that’s precisely when it’s time to practice finding little “glads.”
Close your phone, notice the aroma of your coffee or the color of flowers on the street.
That repetition doesn’t only change you—it gradually changes the people around you too.
If humans can easily “catch” negativity,
they can also “spread” positivity.
The first to embody that in story form was Pollyanna.
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Strictly speaking, it was Pollyanna’s father who was great! And Pollyanna, for believing in her father, was also great.
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“Yesterday’s fortune-telling even made it sound like it would all end yesterday, but it didn’t—that’s why I’m so irritated.”
Yeah, that would definitely be frustrating…
When something makes you think “it might end today,” but in reality nothing changes, the disappointment is amplified because of the raised expectations.
When fortune-telling dangles hope like that, it makes people feel even more tossed around.
In those cases, maybe it’s better to set your expectation low—like, “If it ends, that’s lucky.”
That way the mental damage will be lighter.
If you want, I can summarize some countermeasures for “holding on to hope while reducing irritation.”
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“I have work tomorrow, so let’s go to sleep.”
