Why Negative Thinking Makes the World a Better Place
Some years ago, I went on a "positivity" course. My sister had died, my father had died, and I'd had cancer, and a broken heart, and I wasn't, quite frankly, feeling that cheerful. Perhaps, I thought, I could brainwash myself into feeling a bit better.
And so in a central London hotel, with cream walls and a blue carpet, and tables with those pump-top coffee flasks of sour filter coffee, and sad little plates of biscuits, I tried. Paul McKenna did his best. And it's worked for him! It's clearly worked for him. The man who has learnt to "turbo-charge" his brain with "the Power of a Positive Perspective" has, apparently, thought himself into being very successful (or at least very famous) and very, very rich. Assuring us that we could "Master Our Emotions and Run Our Own Brains" and "Design Our Destiny" and unlock "The Secrets to Inner Happiness and Contentment," he had us making pictures in our mind, and taking part in orchestrated laughter, as if laughter can blow the problems of the world away.
Sometimes, it can. Real, spontaneous, cheekbone-aching laughter can blow the problems of the world away, at least for a moment. But forced laughter can't and pictures can't. Or at least, they can't for me. I sat through the weekend, and drank the coffee, and ate the biscuits, and even listened to the CDs, but it didn't make any difference. I still felt sad.
It was, actually, a relief to stop trying. Just as it was a relief, when I told friends the results of the biopsy, and they looked me in the eye and told me it was awful. What wasn't a relief was the handful of people who said, "Don't worry, you'll be fine!" Oh, really? So you're psychic? Or you've secretly retrained as an oncologist? Or are you just trying to make yourself feel better?
There's a lot to be said for negative thinking. Not only because it spares people the tooth-grinding irritation of Pollyannaish predictions of eternal sunshine based on precisely nothing (and usually coupled with the aggressive assertion that they're "good") whose chief aim is to imply that you're rivals in a competition that they're winning, but simply because it makes the world a better place. It makes the world a safer place and a nicer one.
And the experts, apparently, agree. "Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, co-operation and reliance on mental shortcuts," says a professor of psychology in this month's Australian Science Journal, "negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world." People "in negative mood," he concludes, can cope with more demanding situations than their sunny neighbours and are "less prone to judgmental errors, more resistant to eyewitness distortions and better at producing high-quality, effective persuasive messages."
Well, I could have told him that! Who started the Iraq war? A man who told Vanity Fair, after his first "election" to office, that he was "not really the type to go through deep wrestling with [his] soul," and who, in his new incarnation as a motivational speaker, told an audience at Fort Worth last week about the rug he picked out for the Oval Office to reflect his "optimism." And a man who, according to his Rottweiler-in-chief, Alastair Campbell, "had this extraordinary ability whatever was going on around him to put a smile on his face and go into his room and make people feel better about being there." But not, perhaps, the soldiers whose limbs have been blown off in the conflict, or the wives of the soldiers who've been killed, or the people in the country he set out to save, who have watched more than 100,000 of their compatriots die.
And who wrecked the global economy? Men and women (but mostly men) who sold mortgages to people with no credit rating, or savings, or sometimes even income (beyond their welfare check) and then, when it all went a bit pear-shaped, wrapped up the debt in a nice velvet ribbon and sold it on. And thought it would all be fine. It would all be fine because they said it would, and because they said it loudly, everyone believed them.
No wonder "Dr. Doom" is doing rather well, aka Nouriel Roubini, the New York University economist who predicted the global financial meltdown and whose economic forecasting is proving the hottest new thing in town. Bad news is the new good news as the boys who suffered a (mercifully only momentary) blip in their bonuses force themselves to listen to the boring bust stuff so they can quickly boomerang back to boom.
Some of these people, frankly, deserve to be disemboweled. Most people who are, however, don't. Of 71 patients who were, according to a recent study, because they had cancer of the colon, 41 were told that they could have surgery to reconnect their bowels while the others were told that they couldn't. The ones without hope were, apparently, much happier. They just got on with their lives. Perhaps they knew, as the Bible says, that "hope deferred makes the heart grow sick," and perhaps they knew that Dante's exhortation to the entrants of hell, to abandon all hope, was actually the key to a kind of heaven.
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This was a fine piece- one that I could read and not feel overdosed on the sugary sweet tenets of being more positive. I am often called the "Dark Angel" by those who know me best. I am a hardcore realist with a tender heart.
I believe that by deducting the truth without illusions has helped me deal with my Epilepsy and now the recent development of a serious chronic illness. I engaged for many years in ashram-like beliefs, yogi thinking, Deepak, crystals and tarot. It all gave me a lighter perspective but at times it all seemed like a fairy tale, so far from the Truth's that were my day to day existence.
I experienced my share of milagros: the unsavory parts of my life would suddenly shift. I enjoy the clarity of my own notions. More often than not, by hitting a situation with strength and facts, I am able to dance over any abyss with a modicum of grace.
We can be both, yes? Darkness and Light?
Thank you, Christina, for writing a valuable article that resonates in these difficult times.
I agree with the point that Pollyanna thinking can be delusional, and result in ignoring the facts. But optimism does not always equal ignorance.
And there's a big difference between negative thinking and factual thinking,
The choice between optimism and pessimism is a actually false choice,
We need to embrace the duality of facing facts AND holding onto our faith that everything we be OK in the end.
As someone who was probably born a sunny side upper, people often assume that I'm ignorant of the brutal facts, when in reality I'm often all too aware of them, but the only way I can summon the courage to look awful situations in the face, is by holding onto an unwavering faith that the arc of the universe eventually bends towards the greater good, however long and ugly the process may be.
The people who got us into a war, and bankrupted are economy weren't optimists, they were greedy egotistical idiots.
Speaking on behalf of optimists, yes we need reminders to look at the facts, but if you want to change the world, you can't just tell everyone how awful it is, you have to show them how great it can be.
Excellent article.
A healthy dose of negative thinking would have saved the lives of those positive thinkers who died in James Arthur Ray's sweat lodge the other week.
While there is some real truth behind the positive thinking message, it is truth with a small "t", and it is balanced by another truth with a small "t" about the virtue of negative thinking.
Unfortunately, both quacks and fraudsters abound in this world, and there is always someone who is ready to make a buck by exploiting human suffering, which is common to all of us.
In normal times or in a boom I might agree. But we have a worldwide recession. What makes you think that those who express a message are necessarily fraudsters or quacks? Why is it impossible that they are simply trying to help?
If you're just trying to help, help is free. When people charge $250/hour as a life coach, or $10,000 for a "Warrior Seminar", it makes good sense to question their integrity, just like it makes sense to question the integrity of the Wall St crowd.
All these excesses are just the latest manifestations of Capitalism Gone Wild. You can't buy self-actualization in a box, like it's a Gucci handbag.
I recommend that you read Barbara Ehrenreich's excellent deconstruction of the "positive thinking" industry, in her latest book, BRIGHT SIDED. She's the real deal.
There must be positiveness and negativeness. Positiveness that debvelop from negativeness. If we acknowledge our weaknesses and mistakes and correct them is one example.
I have lately had a huge knee-jerk reaction against all the "positive thinking" articles being printed-- mostly by folks who don't seem to have much "negative" stuff going on in their lives right now. So I do agree with the point you were making here. AND I am not sure I call what you are advocating "negative thinking." I think, and find what works for me, is being HONEST about what is going on, and if it sucks, I say that-- and then deal with the situation in the most "positive" productive way I can. When I am overwhelmed with the challenges of my situation, I allow myself to whine a bit and even complain-- but then I move on. I really don't feel better when I wallow in depression and/or anger, but I do find I am better at finding solutions when I acknowledge the "problems" in any given situation. . and if I acknowledge that a situation is unpleasant or "not working" for me.
But overall, I want to be "happy"-- and I seem to choose to go to that place, once I acknowledge I don't like what is going on, and decide on a course of "forward" action designed to make the situation or my response to it a little or a lot better.
One of the best articles I've read in a long time. I consider myself a lucky person (so far!).. but 'polyanna' I'm not and I do tire of it.
Christina.. I wish you strength and true grit in dealing with the cancer and all the rest..
Good things that may accompany negativity are rarely due to it as such, but to absence of euphoria, delusion, compliance etc.
The "negativity' of attacking problems is often confused with a negative disposition, because they are superficially similar.
Bad feeling is a blunt tool at best, generally worthless, and typically harmful.
Be happy when you're happy, sad when you're sad, angry when you're angry and so on. That's what infants do, crying one minute and laughing the next. As we grow into adults, we try to force 'happy when we're not', suppress anger when it's there' and so on. Some of these comments are so complex as to be unworkable. It's pretty simple.
If you have serious, important, hard work to do it's OK to be serious and focused. You don't have to be positive or negative just present to what's in front of you and take the appropriate actions. Think of the most challenging tasks whether it's in sports or an astronaut fixing the Hubble. If he's trying to be positive or negative or anything but being fully present to what he's doing, he'll likely make a mistake. Being present displaces any notion of positive or negative and allows one to be the most effective.
"Your just being negative" !
yes, there's a smile behind that !
can't there be times when a smile is hideous !
it's like glamor
it can get a bit much
Thank you for this post.
As a person who is often called negative or pessimistic, I find it difficult to handle people who feel that throwing good thoughts at things will make them better. I explain I am neither a surly pessimist nor a cheery optimist but a hard-nosed realist.
It astounds me how many people rely on self-help gurus who quote platitudes at them. Have I had rough times in life - obviously. Do I think 'when god closes a door, he opens a window'? No. I get so sick of the pressure society puts on people to always have a 'happy face' in direct contrast to what might be going on around them.
Admittedly I like codified results. I do believe that 'the plural of anecdote is not data.' When I need assistance through tough times, I go to a cognitive therapist who puts out very reasonable and logical solutions for me. What she never does is expect me to smile winningly in the face of tragedy. She allows me to grieve when I need to & gives me a kick when I wallow.
What isn't said by those who say that positive energy can create positive change is that bad things happen to everyone and there is no way to control life, just ways to manage it. I find rationality gives me much more contentment than fake laughter ever would.
I agree with you completely, but I have found that people can not be reasoned with when it comes to "positive" thinking. It is a religious issue with them.
Some people claim that religion is applied reason. Among them is the pope. You don't have to agree with this (I don't). Just sayin'.
Yikes.
Irrational people ALWAYS claim, irrationally, that they're rational.
And how can you argue with THAT, amiright?! (heh)
You'll never find grace through negative thinking.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anne-naylor/can-an-ordinary-person-en_b_344970.html
The problem with this kind of statement is that it would be disgraceful to state the opposite. Or is it possible to find grace through self-acclamation?
I think the way out of this paradox is to avoid over-reliance on the connotations of the term 'negative thinking'.
What counts is acceptance while suspending judgement and evaluation. Followed by an integration of the 'stuff' into a something that can henceforth be viewed positively.
Once this is completed, it may very well happen that the past ceases to be negative. Which is kinda like what the whole exercise was supposed to bring about.
I'm not concerned with being disgraceful. My comment was meant to be humorous, but thanks for your response. I have to say, the grace business sounds either psychotic or wildly ignorant.
HMDMSR: You'll never find grace through negative thinking.
===
The concept of grace finds its roots in Christianity...ie. "Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more".
Anyone who reads the Christian Bible HONESTLY...whether a believer or not...would be convinced that Jesus - as well as the Apostles - said a whole lot of things that would fall under the rubric of "negative thinking".
One could make the same statements about the Buddha, btw. His teaching was based on a clear-eyed recognition that our common experience in this world is suffering. His "negative thinking" was no more negative than the "negative thinking" of a good oncologist who diagnoses cancer, and prescribes radical, and difficult treatment.
So this kind of talk that makes grace and "negative thinking" somehow contradictory world views simply has no basis in fact. It's just hogwash.
BTW, I didn't think HMDMSR was necessarily advocating this kind of positivity only approach to life. But he was doing a service by showing by example how common it is right now, both in the larger world and on the blogs here.
Whether we're talking about the Christian version (known as the prosperity gospel), or the new age version (as espoused in the SECRET, and on Oprah), this kind of talk is reflective of a wounded, narcissitic society looking to escape from the fact that our lives are difficult, and full of a mixture of both light and darkness.
When people try to deny the darkness, whether they are Christian "ministers" or New Age "gurus", the results are inevitable: the darkness becomes manifest as some form of insanity other.
Anyone who has been paying attention for the last 50 years has seen the phenomenon assert itself over and over again.
Those who teach a "light only" message are just wrong, regardless of what their underlying memes might be.
I can accept this.
Just so I'm not misunderstood: I think the whole positive/negative think is a bunch of nonsense, and I agree with your cancer analogy.
Maybe not, but sometimes we just want to feel better while still on earth and positive thinking espousers often sound like they are advocating deferment...either that or what they really mean when they say "It'll be fine, just hold positive thoughts" is that just really don't want to hear about it.
And of course, no discussion of this topic is complete without a mention of Randy Pausch, and his extraordinary "Last Lecture":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks
Thank you very much Christina, for a thought-full and thought provoking essay.
I agree that too much comfort and "false positives" can blind us to the suffering of others, and our own serious problems, and to the genuine feelings (not always happy) within ourselves. Yet without hope and joyfulness, life is barren. We need to find, or to create, a healthy balance. To see the world clearly and to face our problems courageously, and then to be joyful in taking action, and not remiss in doing whatever needs to be done.
Gandhi could do it; and other writers have written about this theme with great insights: Colin Wilson, Abraham Maslow, Nikos Kazantzakis, and E. Grahame Howe in a remarkable book: The Open Way.
Michael Pastore
50 Benefits of Ebooks
"negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking, paying greater attention to the external world."
I believe the truth is is that negative thinking is a result of cognitive distortions, the same distortions in our thinking that lead to fear, anxiety, and depression. There is nothing good about negative moods and they only lead to more unclear thinking and reinforce the distortions in thinking. An example is only focusing on a negative aspect of a situation and discounting any of the positive aspects, or thinking you're stuck with something overwhelming forever which can lead to despair then depression. I think the key is to not resent anything that's thrown your way, which will remove a lot of tension in your life and lead to a positive outlook and improvements in life.
Doesn't a lack of clarity in thinking come from not understanding cause and effect? It really has nothing to do with positive or negative thinking, which can't be called "positive" or "negative" with any objectivity anyway.
There is much better advice to be taken.
Do not engage in reductionist or binary thinking. Do not imagine all relationships have an existence. Understanding the reality of relationships requires the deepest of thinking. Try to enforce a correspondence between the words you use and the objects or actions those words represent. Common language is pumped up with words that are not associated with reality. Unfortunately, we are inculcated with such words from birth, and they really take over our minds.
Now, what is a mind?
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