We have evolved to enjoy sleep, sex and sweets- and so we do. But negativity permeates our lives too: we are drawn to murder and violence on the news; we remember the schoolyard bully as if it was yesterday, and we are taught to accept boring education. It is in our genes, but it is also deeply ingrained in our culture. We must pull ourselves together! This is the message from Hans Henrik Knoop, Associate Professor at Aarhus Univesity, President of the European Network for Positive Psychology. If we create the right conditions for growth and self-regulation, we can raise ourselves above primitive desires to achieve far greater well-being.