People focus on the investment losses more because a loss is more than twice as negative to them as a gain is positive. You can gain an edge on the market if you view gains and losses for exactly what they are. The beautiful part about investing is that the downside is limited (because a stock can't go below 0) but the upside is unlimited.

The multi-baggers in the portfolio such as: 4x gains in Netflix, 4x gains in Amazon, 3x gains in Microsoft, and 11x gains in Shopify over the last 5 years will have outweighed GE dropping 50%, GM dropping 1x*, Seers dropping 1x, and Kodak dropping 85%.

I'm not as familiar with the Nifty 50 probably because I'm younger. Investopedia says it was the popular large-cap NYSE stocks of the 1960s and 1970s without an official list. but could also mean one of at least 6 indexes on the indian stock exchange[2]. Gurufocus claims they were Large Cap Growth Stocks with an average P/E Ratio of 42x.[3] Large caps are known to underperform overall in the long run but outperform more frequently in shorter 1 year time frames.[1] The same is true with growth stocks vs value stocks.

It seems to me that the reason the Nifty 50 "lost 80% to 90%" [3] is because it was overweight in large cap and growth stocks while neglecting value stocks and small cap stocks.[1] This is evidenced by the S&P 500 growing 6.78% per year annualized from 1960 to 1979 and showing a positive return over every 15 year period in recorded stock market history.[4]

[1] http://www.moneychimp.com/articles/index_funds/why_sv.htm

[2] https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/nifty-fifty-50.a...

[3] https://www.gurufocus.com/news/594692/faang-plus-m-and-the-s...

[4] http://www.moneychimp.com/features/market_cagr.htm