Hi Friends,
I'm handling some personal problems (like everyone) and was thinking introspectively this weekend and found a Tony Tony Robbins video on You Tube called "I'm not your guru." A few things occurred to me;
- The positive thinking movement is largely a bunch of hyped up marketing to sell people on the idea that they can get ANYTHING they want when in fact this is a falsehood.
- Positive Thinking industry is not really based on "good attitude" thinking but more based on a dangerous "wishful thinking" dream that if i think it long enough, or keep repeating affirmations, all things that i want will come true.
- I'm not so sure that the Positive Thinking movement has anything to do with Realistic Thinking?
Let me make it clear that i believe that one must take action to make changes in your life. However, these guys seem to be more Dream Sellers than Reality Thinkers.
Blogg writer MARK MASON has a lot to say about this movement and specifically "the secret" His article breaks down the past "positive thinking gurus" to the present and comes up with the idea that "The funny thing about all of these books is that they all more or less say the same thing: mind your own thoughts, stay positive and focused on your goals, ignore self-doubt and criticism, visualize and concentrate on what you want and you will eventually have it."
He further delves into our own bias ; "We’ve all experienced confirmation bias a million times, you’ve probably just never realized it before."
Some great quotes from the article;
"Essentially, The Secret is an attempt to leverage the confirmation bias to one’s advantage."
"The Secret advocates that people assume the identities of the person they wish to become — to actually believe that they are already rich, already skinny and healthy, already in a perfect relationship. Essentially, The Secret tells you to become delusionally positive about yourself for a long enough period of time that your natural confirmation bias kicks in and you only attend to the things in your life that match these new beliefs."
"The Secret actually requires that you never doubt yourself, never consider negative repercussions, and never indulge in negative thoughts."
"Other studies show that people who engage in “self-affirmations” and are then presented with information that threatens their affirmation (even healthy criticism or feedback) actually engage in more faulty reasoning than people who don’t use self-affirmations.10 In fact, people who indulge in delusional positive thinking ironically become downright angry when someone tries to contradict their wall of airy-fairy thoughts. The truth about their situation just becomes that much more painful to them."
"There’s an irony to all of this mess, of course. If you’re desperate enough to feel better about yourself by adopting a philosophy of delusional positivity, that philosophy will appeal to others around you who are also desperate to feel better about themselves. In this way, by adopting a delusional positivity, you attract and surround yourself with others who are also delusionally positive."
I'm not into negative thinking or pessimist thinking as i believe these only lead to depression and further downward spiral. I'm more into realistic thinking and critical thinking at this point.
But, after watching "i'm not your guru" it just further exacerbated the idea that many of these guys are pushing "unrealistic thinking."
(or perhaps this is my own bias)?
- What is the best way "to think about" handling life's problems?
- How much power do we have?
- At what point should we be content?
LINK
Thanks
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