"Let me quickly watch this short"
We are all guilty of not having enough time. And yet, somehow, there is always time for a brief "short video". It is just a short, after all. What should happen if you watch it?
Recent research has an uncomfortable answer: the consumption of less-than-one-minute short videos can significantly change your mood and your sentiment towards certain issues, and likely in a negative direction. Applied to daily life: even one short per day on the war in the Middle East, or on the political conflicts in your own country, might quickly shift how you feel, without you ever deciding to feel that way.
In the study, participants watched short videos over a period of six days while the researchers used EEG to measure brain activity, alongside questionnaires assessing behaviour, sentiment towards certain topics, and emotional state. Polarised short videos significantly changed participants' mood and mental state, and the effect held across the six days. Even if it is "just a short", it matters what you consume.
Things accumulate
As highlighted across this website: doing it one time might feel okay. But things accumulate, silently, in both directions. Sixty seconds or less watching a short seems like a small thing. Yet the impact on your brain is significant, and likely negative. And it accumulates.
What you can do with this
Flip the direction of the accumulation. Why not build positive momentum instead, through a natural environment, natural tools and a natural lifestyle, rather than negative programming? The oasis holds the pieces I use myself: light, food, movement, rest. Sixty seconds of those per day also accumulates. That is the whole trick.