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The Poison of Positive Thinking

LadyJaye

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The really sick part of all of this is the fact that it takes advantage of the people who can least afford to be taken advantage of. Those people who are so desperate, so weak, so unsuccessful that they are willing to entertain notions like these and have their lives further destroyed.

It sickens me when I hear people talk like this irl. It's like having someone fart in my face. I'm going evangelical atheist in 2014.

GO RAGE BUNNY GO!
 

Hypatia

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Positive thinking evolved as a movement to combat the tendency to internalize negative experiences as a reflection of a faulty self. The problem with the cure is that when taken too literally, the logical extreme becomes, "I am the cause of everything that happens to me" rather than "I am a self-calibrating agent." The emphasis on the power of responding is dropped for the belief that one can control everything.

I'm really just talking from impressions here, I'm not a fan nor familiar with the movement, though I can appreciate some elements of thought it co-opts. Things go form bad to worse when positive thinking disavows reality, which is what it needs to work, and when this is encouraged by performers who either possess these distorted beliefs or see the advantage in getting other people to adopt them.
 

AzulEyes

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The author decided people who get hit with tsunamis deserved it?
I actually come from the belief that catastrophes that come your way give you a straight shot to eternal heaven- so if she's right- I guess they are the most deserving people on the planet- and the author should wish she were on the ocean's edge along with them.
 

Julius_Van_Der_Beak

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Positive thinking is the enemy of mindfulness, and the enabler of pomposity. Positive thinking can encourage passivity just as much negativity thinking can.

On the other hand, I wonder if radical honesty might be useful.
 

LadyJaye

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Positive thinking is the enemy of mindfulness, and the enabler of pomposity. Positive thinking can encourage passivity just as much negativity thinking can.

On the other hand, I wonder if radical honesty might be useful.


Oh, how I rant about pomposity. Hopefully not in a pompous fashion.
 

Coriolis

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Why exactly is it harmful to frame 'failure' as 'feedback'? As long as the feedback is taken for what it is, warts and all, it can provide a much more realistic (and therefore beneficial) view than chucking it all to failure. Some problems do have a silver lining--the opportunity to practice, grow, and possibly do it all better the next time around.

On the other hand, people seek quick solutions to their problems. "You want it? Just think it! That's The Secret!" That's bad news bears.

Denying or being blind to reality in all of its forms is detrimental. I'll beat the drum of "misattributing wrong causes to effects is bad" until the day I die.
The highlighted is critical. One needs to view the situation as accurately as one can, neither through the proverbial rose colored glasses, nor the panic of Chicken Little. The opposite usually discourages people from taking action and making improvements, either because they think it's a lost cause (overemphasis on failure); or because they think all is well so there is nothing to improve.
 

ceecee

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" Hope for the best. Plan for the worst."

Yes. Absolutely. I want reality. I want honesty. I'm sick to death of people coating everything in being "nice". When I find another person willing to cut through the bullshit and in touch with honesty and reality, it's so refreshing. This positive movement is all about appearance. It's like - I don't need a plan, I'm just staying positive. I want to shake these people.
 
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LadyJaye

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Yes. Absolutely. I want reality. I want honesty. I'm sick to death of people coating everything in being "nice". When I find another person willing to cut through the bullshit and in touch with honesty and reality, it's so refreshing. This positive moment is all about appearance. It's like - I don't need a plan, I'm just staying positive. I want to shake these people.

I want to steal you from your husband SO hard right now.
 

Magic Poriferan

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I'm not sure what to add. I am very much in agreement with the idea.

Positive thinking and egoistic thinking are the two poisoning snake oils that sell so well in the USA.
 

two cents

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It annoys you because it's annoying.

The only people who can say that are those who can escape and gain distance from their nightmares and problems. It's tough talk coming from a safe place. When your tits deep in what you fear most, you're not wishing Nietzche were there to comfort you.

What doesn't kill you doesn't necessarily make you stronger. It can break you, wear you down, destroy you - all while leaving you alive to experience it.

AMEN!
 

Cantus Firmus

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This is interesting. I'm not familiar with the psychological movements, so I might be slightly off here. Anyway, I consider myself to be incredibly positive and also realistic. I embrace the fact that there are things beyond my control, but along with it the fact that there are things within my control. What is wrong and within my control, I work to change, and the fact that I'm working to change those things is a huge part of my positivity. I'm improving! I'm taking measurable steps to make things better! I'm on the (admittedly sometimes very long) road to achieving something!

As for what's beyond my control, I don't let it get me down. You can't blame yourself for what's beyond your control, and you can't absolve yourself of what's within your control. That's my philosophy, but I'm always stressing the silver linings, and the potential for growth, and finding happiness in those.
 
W

WhoCares

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First of all I think the original article quoted was an extremist point of view. People failing to save or tie up their camels at night is wishful thinking and irresponsibility on the part of the individual, not positive thinking. I think people's propensity to spend every cent they have and take on enormous debts has little to do with self help books and is far more likely to be influenced by a culture of acquisition and consumerism as being the measure of success.

Personally I found Rhonda Burns Law Of Attraction literature rubbish. She presents it as a panacea where no-one ever has to do anything more than look in a shop window to 'receive' all that they desire. It sold because it told people what they wanted to hear, a fairytale to believe in.

I do not believe there is any harm in looking for silver linings in shit situations. But to suppose that because you look for silver linings that nothing bad will ever happen to you, is a leap of logic that no self help author ever intended. I'm a believer that our perceptions shape our experience of reality, but I've yet to click my heels three times and end up in the home of my dreams. I'll let you know when that happens. :newwink:

The power in positive thinking is really in how it sustains you through adversity and how it equips you with the belief that no matter what, things can change. Without those two things life would be a bleak experience for the majority of us. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with staring at a shit situation and calling it shit.
 
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