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The Bright Side

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The Bright Side

How Optimists Change the World, and How You Can Be One

Scribner,

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The ability to see the “bright side” is vital to humanity’s survival.

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With social unrest, economic uncertainty, and environmental crises on the rise, many are growing more nihilistic and apathetic. But a pessimistic outlook renders people less able to cope with and address these issues, science journalist and astrophysics scholar Sumit Paul-Choudhury explains. To protect their well-being and humanity’s shared future, people must, instead, cling to hope. Paul-Choudhury argues that optimism is a learned trait you can strengthen with new habits. His abundant examples illustrate how teaching your brain to embrace optimism can improve your life and society as a whole.

Summary

Optimists aren’t naive Pollyannas; they have an adaptive, competitive advantage.

Many believe optimists are a small, hopeful minority. In truth, most people have an optimistic bent. A study by neuroscientist Tali Sharot estimates that as many as 80% of people exhibit optimism bias — that is, a belief that they are less likely to suffer misfortune and more likely to experience good luck than the odds predict. Sharot also found that some 10% of people are realists who correctly estimate their chances of fortune or misfortune. A further 10% of the population — including those who suffer depression — exhibits a pessimistic outlook. Such individuals aver that their negative outlook means they can never be disappointed, just pleasantly surprised, but this is a cowardly, defeatist worldview.

Though philosophers have argued in favor of realism for thousands of years, evidence suggests that cynical thinkers fail to recognize ways they could improve their lives and the world at large. Conversely, optimism encourages individuals to get out of bed each morning and act to effect change. Often, people dismiss optimists as naive. But an optimistic outlook offers considerable advantages...

About the Author

Astrophysicist Sumit Paul-Choudhury is the founder and director of Alternity, a creative studio. He is the former editor in chief of New Scientist magazine.

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