The Second Apocalypse
Miscellaneous Chatter => Philosophy & Science => Topic started by: sciborg2 on January 14, 2019, 10:11:46 pm
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The Benefits of Optimism Are Real (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-benefits-of-optimism-are-real)
Far from being delusional or faith-based, having a positive outlook in difficult circumstances is not only an important predictor of resilience—how quickly people recover from adversity—but it is the most important predictor of it. People who are resilient tend to be more positive and optimistic compared to less-resilient folks; they are better able to regulate their emotions; and they are able to maintain their optimism through the most trying circumstances.
This is what Dr. Dennis Charney, the dean of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, found when he examined approximately 750 Vietnam war veterans who were held as prisoners of war for six to eight years. Tortured and kept in solitary confinement, these 750 men were remarkably resilient. Unlike many fellow veterans, they did not develop depression or posttraumatic stress disorder after their release, even though they endured extreme stress. What was their secret? After extensive interviews and tests, Charney found ten characteristics that set them apart. The top one was optimism. The second was altruism. Humor and having a meaning in life—or something to live for—were also important.
For many years, psychologists, following Freud, thought that people simply needed to express their anger and anxiety—blow off some steam—to be happier. But this is wrong. Researchers, for example, asked people who were mildly-to-moderately depressed to dwell on their depression for eight minutes. The researchers found that such ruminating caused the depressed people to become significantly more depressed and for a longer period of time than people who simply distracted themselves thinking about something else. Senseless suffering—suffering that lacks a silver lining—viciously leads to more depression.
Counter-intuitively, another study found that facing down adversity by venting—hitting a punching bag or being vengeful toward someone who makes you angry— actually leads to people feeling far worse, not better. Actually, doing nothing at all in response to anger was more effective than expressing the anger in these destructive ways.
Even more effective than doing nothing is channeling your depression toward a productive, positive goal, as Pat and Pi do.
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I agree/believe this - I am not insane, I'm positive :) ... but seriously, there is truth to this.
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I agree/believe this - I am not insane, I'm positive ... but seriously, there is truth to this.
I wholeheartedly believe this also. If you're constantly negative...expect negative results. Same holds true for being positive.
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I bet y'all go to mindfulness classes and read self-help books about being positive and confident like Wilshire, H and Madness.
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I bet y'all go to mindfulness classes and read self-help books about being positive and confident like Wilshire, H and Madness.
Every Sunday. (ok not really)
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bet y'all go to mindfulness classes and read self-help books about being positive and confident like Wilshire, H and Madness.
Me, myself? Never have. But, I have noticed in my life, those that bitch constantly tend to have more problems than those that go with the flow. If all you look at is the bad things in life, bad shit tends to happen. If you are positive about things then more positivity will follow you around. That's my experience anyhow.
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I bet y'all go to mindfulness classes and read self-help books about being positive and confident like Wilshire, H and Madness.
Oh no, he's on to us...
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I bet y'all go to mindfulness classes and read self-help books about being positive and confident like Wilshire, H and Madness.
Don't be so pessimistic. Your invitation is in the mail! TH said he sent it a month ago. Maybe we got your address wrong... What was it again?
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I'll be the first to admit, if it benefited my three, illustrious, scholarly friends, I'll be the first to pick it up. Wilshire has never recommended it to me on any of the threads, though.
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I'll be the first to admit, if it benefited my three, illustrious, scholarly friends, I'll be the first to pick it up. Wilshire has never recommended it to me on any of the threads, though.
Well, there is a very good reason we never recommended it to you...
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Well, there is a very good reason we never recommended it to you...
Really? What? In genuinely at a loss as to why you guys wouldn't want me participating in your "mindfulness" endeavors....
;)
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Well, there is a very good reason we never recommended it to you...
Really? What? In genuinely at a loss as to why you guys wouldn't want me participating in your "mindfulness" endeavors....
;)
The initiation rituals aren't for everyone, you know?
Not to mention, it's all a zero-sum game. If we let everyone else get more mindful and confident, then we necessarily won't be as much.
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Well, there is a very good reason we never recommended it to you...
Really? What? In genuinely at a loss as to why you guys wouldn't want me participating in your "mindfulness" endeavors....
;)
The initiation rituals aren't for everyone, you know?
Not to mention, it's all a zero-sum game. If we let everyone else get more mindful and confident, then we necessarily won't be as much.
Lol'd.
Real talk though, I agree with some of the points made in the OP, but on the other hand I do feel a lot of this 'just have a positive attitude man ;)' is bullshit. Like, somewhat related, there was this smiling study that was debunked some years ago https://www.livescience.com/56740-facial-feedback-hypothesis-fails-in-replication-attempt.html
Stuff like that needs to fuck off.
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Be sure you're not confusing optimism with naivete. It's more of a function of how you chose to react than not seeing clearly. That old saying, resentment is like taking poison and hoping the other guy dies. One of optimism's features strengthens your resolve/spine as you have the energy to do so. Everything has a cost and it can lend to being taken advantage of easier - but an optimist would say the improved social reality they enjoy overwhelms that risk. And let's face it, being pissed off all the time and/or cynical about everything can be a buzzkill. You're alive, fucker - not a calculator - even extraordinarily awful events are amazing, the depth of emotive experience is butter.
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I'm not saying I walk around with a smile on my face, thinking that will make the world right. Or, that if I just look on the bright side, the best will come.
Example. Two guys tasked to do the same job, a truly horrid job, pick one there are many. Person A goes with the attitude that it needs done no matter what, so digs in and get it done. Person B bitches and moans and complains the whole time. Hating his shitty circumstances life has handed him. Who do you believe gets done faster and does a better job? Hence, a positive outcome.
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I am probably in the running for "least optimistic human being alive" in reality. I'm also not at all very mindful, generally, not am I what I could typify as particularly confident.
Thing is, many events are somewhat ambiguous, in the sense of how you should necessarily react to them emotionally. If we follow the line of reasoning though, that meaning if a function of focus, then we can see how focusing on the "negative" will necessarily lead you to a negative interpretation of more events.
Depressive realism is an actual thing. Blissful ignorance is too. The key is finding the right sort of balance between the two.