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Reading BBC News this weekend, my attention was drawn by a positive story Meningitis cases ‘at record low’. I was struck by the positive reporting and wondered whether that reaction was fair. Looking at the index of stories below it was noticeable that the positive tone was unusual:

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Just look at the language: “blunder, suffers, plea, assault, deadly, carnage, weakest, attacks, weak, shut”.

Now the bottom right corner sounds more positive:

• Cow genome ‘to transform farming’
• Cheryl Cole to record solo songs
• Facebook users say yes to changes

But really the positivity depends on where you stand on genetic research, manufactured pop and the ethics of social networking businesses.

In Remember the Future Jeremy Adam Smith attempts to debunk the idea that “we’re getting dumber, society is disintegrating, and the world is becoming more dangerous”.

Not a great surprise from Greater Good, a center committed to ‘scientific understanding of happy and compassionate individuals, strong social bonds, and altruistic behavior’.

(The Sopranos seems to be the universal optimists defence. Steven Johnson also used the programme to undermine the doomsayers in Everything Bad is Good for You )