The Power of Positive Thinking: Point – Counterpoint
Point
…according to a Stanford Research Institute study success is 88 percent attitude and 12 percent education. The results should be no surprise to anyone. Maintaining a positive attitude is an important factor in your ability to succeed in life and stay sane through tough times. [Emphasis added]
Source: http://www.christinespeaks.com/positive-atttitude-article.htm
Positive thinking is not a new concept, but in recent decades it has been increasingly gaining currency among the global populace. There is almost a consensus on the value of consciously cultivating positive thinking for individual health, happiness and success. [Emphasis added]
What is it like, this state of positivity? What kind of life would we lead when immersed in it? I think it is a state of concentrated energy, for we will be freed of all the negative thoughts that steal away our energy and dissipate our focus. [...] Most of all, it would be a highly effective state of the mind, for it would zero in on what needs to be done and do it. It would also be a tremendous force for good. [Emphasis added]
Source: http://www.lifepositive.com/mind/psychology/positive-thinking/positive.asp
Counter-Point
Recently, a number of writers and researchers have questioned the notion that looking on the bright side — often through conscious effort — makes much of a difference. [Emphasis added]
A study published in the November-December issue of Australasian Science found that people in a negative mood are more critical of, and pay more attention to, their surroundings than happier people, who are more likely to believe anything they are told. [Emphasis added]
“It’s easy to show an association between optimism and subsequent health,” he said, “but if you introduce appropriate statistical controls — if you take into account baseline health and material resources — then the effect largely goes away.”
As for Ms. Ehrenreich [author of Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America], she believes that negative thinking is just as delusional as unquestioned positive thinking. She hopes to see a day when corporate employees “walk out when the motivational speakers start talking,” she said. “It’s all about control and money.” Her goal? To encourage realism, “trying to see the world not colored by our wishes or fears, but by reality.” [Emphasis added]
Source: Seeking a Cure for Optimism
Conclusion
“The challenge of modernity is to live without illusions and without becoming disillusioned.”
“I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will”
Antonio Gramsci, 1891-1937
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