If I tried to scroll back even a week in the WhatsApp window on my laptop, I would get RSI, but I don’t need to do that to know how much complaining it contains. It’s at least 88% complaints by volume. In chats with my best friend alone, a search revealed 27 uses of “I hate” last month, 12 of “tired” (surprisingly low), plus various rants, whines, expletives and nonsense utterances representing general malaise.⁠ ⁠ It’s me more than her: I tallied up everything I said out loud to myself for a week earlier in the year and it was like Brian Cox in Succession fighting with Eeyore. I’d love to be a Labrador puppy, spreading joy, but I fear I’m a morose little squid, squirting murky negativity ink over everyone. My friends complain a decent amount, too – we wouldn’t be friends if they didn’t – and I’ve been wondering for a while whether all the moaning serves us well, or makes us feel worse.⁠ ⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ This came to a head recently when I discovered the concept of “negativity friendships”: b...