To: K-list
Recieved: 2000/06/23 10:15
Subject: [K-list] Learned Optimism.
From: Mystress Angelique Serpent
On 2000/06/23 10:15, Mystress Angelique Serpent posted thus to the K-list:
Bending the list guidelines.. this showed up in my mailbox today..
seemed like a perfect endnote to the optimism vs. insurance thread.
World Report
Solutions Oriented News From Around The World
Featured Story
Learned Optimism More Useful Than Truth
USA - Philadelphia, Penn. - According to a recent study with students by
Martin Seligman, director of clinical training at the University of
Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, high scores for optimism are predictive of
excellence in everything from sports to sales. Analyzing campaign speeches
for the prevalence of optimism, Seligman predicted the winners of the 1988
presidential and Senate elections more accurately than veteran political
forecasters. "I used to be an agent of both truth and happiness," says
Seligman. "That's still a central premise of most therapists. But research in
our lab and others is increasingly challenging that view. Optimists have a
set of self-serving illusions that enable them to maintain good cheer and
health in a universe essentially indifferent to their welfare. Optimists are
more resistant to infectious illness and are better at fending off the
chronic diseases of middle age." According to Seligman, depressed people
would do well to adopt the same self-serving illusions that optimistic people
hold. "We can choose how we think. Styles of thinking can become habits. We
can control our thoughts as we can our muscles," says Seligman. Studies
show, if you think about problems in a negative frame of mind, you come up
with fewer solutions. And you're likely to spiral into deeper depression. By
boosting mood and self-esteem, people with pessimistic tendencies can break
that cycle and free themselves to think more creatively. This is consistent
with other studies which show that, while pessimists may be more realistic,
optimists live longer and happier lives. Seligman is author of a new book
entitled "Learned Optimism."
http://www.domin8rex.com
Vancouver, B.C., Canada.
Officially the most beautiful city in the world.
:D ;) :0 :) ;P ;) :D ;) 8D :)
I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery
than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.
~ Harry Emerson Fosdick
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