Acclaimed journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking. View a video of her lecture at the RSA that inspired this animation. Download a transcript of this video (pdf)
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What a great point for discussion. There is certainly something to be said for "THINKING" and how we do it. The idea of "positive" thinking is hit perfectly here and it is much different than "Purposeful" thinking. Here is an example... Thinking about wanting $1 million, is far different than the way Victor Frankl thought during his time as a prisoner in the German Concentration Camp. He had purposeful thinking, and that is what got him to the point where he was counseling the prison guards before he was freed.
YOU SOUND LIKE MY MOTHER!! JUST LIKE YOU SEE A CLAER PATTERN SO DO WE, NEW GENERATIONS ARE OPEN MINDED, AND OLD GENERATIONS ARE NOT, YES ITS TRUE YOU HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE LIVING, BUT DO YOU TRUELLY KNOW, HAVE YOU TRIED IT OUT INSTEAD OF JUST EXPLAINING WHAT YOU THINK. ANYWAYS GREAT VIDEO I LIKE THE DRAWINGS, BUT KEEP IT SIMPLE!! YOU KNOW WHAT I ALWAYS PICTURED MYSELF HAVING A BAND, RECORDING A CD AND HAVING GIGS ADN GUESS WHAT I DO HAVE IT!! IF YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH YOU CAN, BUT DOESNT MEAN YOU GOING TO SIT AROUND WAITING FOR IT JUST LIKE YOU THINK OR MAYBE HOW THEY EXPLAINED IT TO YOU, ITS ABOUT THINKING OF THE RIGHT PATH TO TAKE ITS CALLED THINKING WITH LOGIC, LOGIC THE ANSWER TO ALL YOUR QUESTION IS A LOGICAL NUMBER 1!! 1 WORLD, 1 HUMAN, 1 UNIVERSE AND THEY ALL LIVE IN 1!! THANKS BYE
Excellent. This is a beautiful and intelligent illustration of the trend of insanity which has become mainstream in certain countries. More importantly, it illustrates how dangerous this irrational belief or 'philosophy' can be for the economy, the social system, the international relations and how closely it resembles tyrannical societies which do not tolerate critical and constructive thought. It is a reflection of common sense which unfortunately is not so common anymore. Congratulations.
Very interesting. Several comments on this.
I do believe she is talking about what I call "blindfold optimism". The kind of optimism where you are totally blind to anything that is happening around you (hhmm...GW Bush?).
I do believe in the LOA but not in the way it is portrayed in The Secret...What??!! the people killed in the Tsunami were "thinking it?" Most of them were on VACATION!! That is a totally ludacris, insensitive comment...and as stated below, if they can say something like this about that event, then they can think it about the WTC...I had Loved ones in those buildings, that just made it out, and had several acquaintances die there)
I DO believe in, "give and you will receive" (simply because there IS more happiness in giving then receiving), I believe in "what goes around comes around", too...and in putting your best foot forward and not complaining about your troubles (EVERYONE has some sort of troubles today)....this does not mean, not thinking about your troubles and what to do.....but not bemoaning your troubles and doing something about them...no matter what that is, or how big or small the steps...this to me is "positive thinking".
Parts of her commentary is good, but parts miss the point I think. There is a big difference between the, "putting your head in the sand and pretend things will be ok...even good." optimism, and the "ok this is what it is now, what can I do to make things right, because I know things will even out at some point.", optimism..
Do I think optimism and positive works? ..I sure do...
I think it's an extremely pertinent lecture that touches upon some serious issues in a very positive way. The target is not the individual who is at liberty to think positive thoughts to change the individual world that that individual is living in. The target is the corporate world driven by greed and (yes) ignorance, where anyone who is not towing the party line and underlining the company's (or country's) message that sales will keep increasing, more more more of everything is fired. I have seen this happen, and it's obscene. The person who said that the Tsunami victims were thinking Tsunami thoughts and therefore brought it upon themselves needs to see a therapist. Imagine the outcry if she had said that all 6 million victims of the Holocaust had been thinking Holocaust thoughts and therefore deserved the gas chambers, or that all those people in the Twin Towers on 9/11 had clearly been not thinking the right kind of thoughts or they would not have attracted the bombs that blew them away. I have just spent the last six months in Singapore, and wish I could show this to every man woman and child here.....