Actually, all we see are the things we see. No one has a terribly precise way of knowing what the real world distribution of good and bad behavior are, yet there is no shortage of people who believe very strongly that they do. It's one of those quirks of the human mind, but it can be overcome with effort.
I think the reference is to media reports. Perhaps it would be better phrased as All that is reported is bad things. (Which is still an overgeneralization of course, but more accurate.)
Hans Rosling says we are instinctually inclined to watch for danger (aka bad news) than for safety. Ha. Makes me ask when was the last time someone pointed out a safe thing. "Watch out, that pizza in the fridge is still good."
Edit: Source for Hans Rosling: the book "Factfulness" (highly recommended—it is really a meta-discussion of how do you talk about good news with people)
Actually, all we see are the things we see. No one has a terribly precise way of knowing what the real world distribution of good and bad behavior are, yet there is no shortage of people who believe very strongly that they do. It's one of those quirks of the human mind, but it can be overcome with effort.