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Realism as an alternative to "positive thinking"

Friday, July 16, 2010
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It is worth seeing. After doing so, consider the following:

On the question of "positive thinking", I guess some people think something like "but you're telling me to think positive, be optimistic, etc.. Are not good ideas? We should go pessimistic and depressed? "Of course this is not the idea (and the video mentions it in passing). The question here, in my view, is that there are two very different interpretations of the meaning of "positive thinking" and the "new agers" in general do everything possible to mix the two, treating them as inseparable.

"Positive thinking" that is, living life optimistically and without a paralyzing fear, trying whenever possible to see the good side of things, so as to avoid the problems / stresses of day-to-day we lie down, is a good idea, and makes a difference in our lives, in terms of our psychological well-being, our attitude towards other people and problems, and the like. It makes us who are less stressed and more enjoyable - and therefore more "popular", which not only tends to further increase our well-being, such as help for the success in life - that is, turns out to be, in a way, a virtuous circle: optimism leads to success that causes more optimism that causes that causes more success ...

But that's not what the "New Agers" promoting (albeit dishonestly, retreat to the most basic meaning when the critics). What they advertise, with books like the stupid best-seller "The Secret", mentioned in the video, is the idea that our thoughts and our emotions directly affect the universe, including fitness and distance learning, the reality is fluid and subjective, constructed by each one of us in our heads (and a tree falling in a forest with no one beside you can not make sound , precisely because the reality is subjective), that to be successful and lucky enough to "believe" this success and luck and thus attract them. To get something that just "want a lot."

And, therefore, that those who fail, those who suffer some catastrophe (even a natural disaster), you do not want enough success, and thus attracted the misfortunes. That is, the blame is always the victim. More obscene than the "everyone gets what he deserves," the idea here is "everyone has what he wants." The poor are poor because they want to (or do not want enough wealth), patients are ill because they "do not believe" in your health, and victims of an earthquake or volcano have to blame because their "negative thoughts" attracted catastrophe.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the most that can be unhealthy.


Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Portugal
This work by Dehumanizer is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Portugal .