Sherry Chandler

The downside of optimism

Right on two years ago, I posted a sort of rant about this country’s prejudice toward optimism, in which I argued that it might be time for Americans to relearn the word pollyanna.

So today I was a bit amused to see this Barbara Ehrenreich op-ed in the NYTimes, The Power of Negative Thinking:

GREED — and its crafty sibling, speculation — are the designated culprits for the financial crisis. But another, much admired, habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking.

As promoted by Oprah Winfrey, scores of megachurch pastors and an endless flow of self-help best sellers, the idea is to firmly believe that you will get what you want, not only because it will make you feel better to do so, but because “visualizing” something — ardently and with concentration — actually makes it happen. You will be able to pay that adjustable-rate mortgage or, at the other end of the transaction, turn thousands of bad mortgages into giga-profits if only you believe that you can.

Positive thinking is endemic to American culture — from weight loss programs to cancer support groups — and in the last two decades it has put down deep roots in the corporate world as well. Everyone knows that you won’t get a job paying more than $15 an hour unless you’re a “positive person,” and no one becomes a chief executive by issuing warnings of possible disaster.

Neither positivism or negativism is called for, argues Ehrenreich. How about trying some realism?

Possibly related posts:

Some news you may have missed in 2005

Frye on Absentmindedness

Rexroth on Native Americans

The downside of this laureate bidness

Correction

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