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Fair point charly. I'm referring to positive thinking of the kind that denies the reality of a situation and the authenticity of the feelings it provokes. We shouldn't have to give ourselves permission to think or feel as we really do, be it positive or negative, yet I suspect the perpetual sunshine, lollipops and rainbows types hide their true emotions from themselves as much as others. I'm living proof that this can't be good for you in the long term.
No most well-adjusted people don't respect those taste like diabetes type of people who live in denial about their lives and the world around them.
Ironically enough some would say that society is going in the opposite direction of too many people crying and getting angry at the drop of a hat.
Denial and constant hysteria are the extremes and most people don't respect those who operate at the extremes.
People respect those who acknowledge that when there is a problem there is a problem and don't deny it or try to sweep it under rug. At the same time instead of constantly whining about bad the problem is ad nauseam but try to fix it. If they can't fix it or fixing it takes an extended amount of time they try to cope with it with a positive attitude. They know the issue exist but will not dwell on it.
Well, there are so many types of problems in life and solving then are complex. Sometimes a person never gets help from the outside because people don't understand their personal situation, and what issues they face. Even a therapist would be useless, if they don't help solve their problem. And then maybe, the science of psychology is not advanced enough to cope with and understand problems.
Maybe there needs to be new theories of psychology too, because Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung is so 1880's to 1920's ? -- And back then science was not so advanced. Even new theories of sociology and why there are so much social problems.
Because really, sometimes the problems people face are related to a certain "physics" of their own problems and how society interacts with them. A person's problem can both both internal and external, psychological and sociological.
The science of psychology is constantly evolving as new ideas replace old ideas, and as old ideas are discarded or incorporated into newer theories. Freud's ideas are largely discarded yet their influence and vestiges remain in later theories, somewhat the same but perhaps a bit more in Jung's ideas. It's like a renovated building where the foundations are hidden yet continue to contribute to the function of the new building. CBT seems to be the rage today, but it's almost always CBT plus this or plus that, like CBT but with some Jungian analysis added. As any science, psychology will continue to evolve as new forms of theories are proposed and old forms are refined, and it upon revised theories that new modalities of treatment are developed. (Add to that the constant stream of new psychopharmaceuticals being introduced to the market.)
Yet through it all I have not noticed any indication that what is often called "the power of positive thinking" as being anything but equally valid in the present is it has been in the past. Formally introduced by Norman Vincent in his book "The Power of ...," Peale (strangely, a minister) and his ideas have become so widely accepted as to even being incorporated in physical diseases such as cancer treatment. Dualism, or the recognition that there is a strong connection between mind and body has been with us since ancient times as far back as Decartes (17th century) and it makes perfect sense even today. What is your brain itself but a bodily organ that is the seat of the mind? Your mind controls your body by many means including but not limited to release of hormones, regulation of neurotransmitter systems both within and outside your brain, and control of your autonomic and endocrine system? I don't even see how you could consider denying that your mental (psychological) state has a strong influence on your entire body.
No of course no matter how hard you think positively it will not help fix a broken leg. But your mind could affect your perception of pain caused by that broken leg! There is a connection but let's not take this to absurd extremes.
Throughout my studies everything has supported that thinking positively can help not only in psychological treatment but also in medical treatment, and is also a common concept in religion and in motivational training. I totally support the idea that thinking positively can and does help in all aspects of your life. No it is not guaranteed, and patients die from cancer even with a positive attitude, but why don't you ponder a bit how the "power of negatively thinking" would affect your life? Who would support that idea? If nothing else, that idea is simply silly.
I'll leave you with a final thought, from a motivational point of view. As I understand it, the first step of attaining any goal in life is to think positively about your goal. As your thinking continues you can expect that your subconscious is also working on helping you attain your goals, influence your emotions and desires towards that goal. How could anybody deny that thinking positively is not an important part of mental health and an aid in advancement of the progress of your life?
Even new theories of sociology and why there are so much social problems.
Are there really more social problems in the present than the past? I presumed you meant so much to indicate so man more although you may not have intended that, but in any case it's in interesting question to ponder and I shall address that.
I'll focus on modern times, perhaps the last 50 or so years. Just what has happened in that period? Population has grown, yet we have had large, metropolitan cities since ancient times (Rome) or for many hundreds of years (London, even New York). Sure there's the famous rat experiment where rats are allowed to multiply without limit in a limited area. They began to fight and each other. To some degree that could be a contributory factor, but to mind that leaves me dissatisfied to blame increased social problems on crowding. As I said, we've had crowded cities before but the increase in social discord seems more recent than to be explained by that.
In the same time period modern transportation has vastly accelerated. In the 16th century travel from Europe to the Americas took weeks via sea travel using sailboats. Today one can start out in Paris and in less than a day end up in Sydney or Chicago. Yet we have always had immigration, and in any case immigrants seem to form enclaves like with like, and after 1-2 generations become indistinguishable from the population in general. Recently there has been a trend of militaristic immigration as a form of asymmetrical warfare (Muslim and its holy war), but none of this explains increased social problems in my opinion.
You know of course I've saved the best for the last. It is increased personal interaction through modern communications, through mass media which appear to me to have become increasingly polarized and politicized in recent years. But even worse IMO it is social media that has been the biggest effect on increasing interaction and communication between population groups both within groups who share similar views, and between groups which are antagonistic to one another. Your American alt-left and alt-right come to my mind.
The effects of traditional mass media cannot be overlooked. Even at a distance (from Canada) it appears to me that television and newspaper coverage has become polarized and politicized. Opinion is the new factualism. The editorials have escaped the opinion page and invaded the front page. People are now running on biased information, and worse, they are self-selecting their biased information sources by selecting biased sources that support their possibly biased views. Now you call any news other than which you support as "fake" news. In my opinion there is an element of "fakeness" in all news! And running on bad information is bound to lead to civil strife as biased ideas collide.
However the roll of social media is to my mind even more of a cause. In the old times the church was the only force with sufficient power and resources to communicate with the masses in any meaningful way. With the advent of the press that power came within the grasp of business and secular government. Yet the major recent change was the invention of the Internet, and the acceleration of growth of the Internet. In just a short 20 or so years the Internet has grown to "few have heard of it" to "everybody has it on their cellphone." And with that social communications have grown exponentially: FaceBook, Twitter, flickr, Pinterest, and all the rest. Even your president Tweets (or as some would have it mis-Tweets) frequently. Yet to me there seems to be little restraint on unfounded communications; these media are breeding grounds for mis-information, fake news, even totally unfounded and misguided ideas. Even worse, people are forming new intellectual enclaves. However there seems to be little in the way of any force to encourage these new social enclaves to merge with the society as the physical enclaves were subject to. In fact there seem to be many forces encouraging enclaves to become more isolated, more disconnected with the mainstream population.
It is social media that I place the main blame of increased social strife and discord. You form armed camps and ideologically fight it out with other antagonistic armed camps, each camp using their own sources of biased media to support their own ideas and refute their opponents' ideas. By mutual reinforcement within the enclaves they become even more convinced that theirs is the only correct world view, and that their opponents are heathen. This serves to widen the gulf between individuals in my opinion.
Combine all the other dislocations of modern life, not limited to the diminishment of the middle class, but also including the new concept of generational warfare, then throw all that at social media, and there you have my opinion of the causal factor that has lead to increased social discord and social problems we see today.
In short I blame increases in social problems upon the discord introduced by the recent exponential increase in social communications and social media combined with lack of restraint in using those same forces. I suggest that this can have a consequent result of increased isolation from exposure to opposing viewpoints and opinions, and it is this disconnect that is causing the strife. Alas, I have no ideas on how to remediate this situation, and worse, I see no reason to not expect the effects to grow.
the O.P. said: " The cult of positive thinking (thoughts, emotion, feelings, toxic)"
is that philosophy, or religion, or psychology of yours SET IN STONE ?,
or are you Open... ? to consideringanother way of thinking & believing & living... Just wondering...
It does get terribly boring. Everything has to be happy happy and unicorns.
Easier, I suppose, than dealing with reality.
The whole point is, there is no reality, only a perception of reality. In the glass half full/half empty example often used, BOTH are reality, the glass is both half full and half empty, but the attitude of the person who perceives it as half-full is going to bring that person more happiness in life. It has noting whatsoever to do with hiding from any reality.
Fair point charly. I'm referring to positive thinking of the kind that denies the reality of a situation and the authenticity of the feelings it provokes. We shouldn't have to give ourselves permission to think or feel as we really do, be it positive or negative, yet I suspect the perpetual sunshine, lollipops and rainbows types hide their true emotions from themselves as much as others. I'm living proof that this can't be good for you in the long term.
Growing up, my family's upper lips were so damned stiff it's a miracle their whole faces weren't soaked in formaldehyde. Good or bad feelings were seldom shown and never discussed. We just gritted our teeth and got on with it. To this day, if something's bothering me, I will withdraw for a day or two while I give myself time to ponder what's wrong and then work out how best to resolve it.
What I'm trying to say is that masking your true emotions with a painted on smile can be just as detrimental as not showing or acknowledging them at all. As Tori Amos puts it 'if you allow yourself to feel the way you really feel, maybe you won't be afraid of that feeling any more.'
At this point in my life I am afraid of all feelings (there I said it) and need to process and rationalise them before I even admit to having them. Being honest with ourselves is the best way to make that easier.
Or, maybe, some of us really are just upbeat and see the positive in just about everything.
I am always accused to being "too happy". My MIL is obsessed with figuring out what true, dark emotions I am hiding. She can't fathom that someone can be happy almost all the time. But I am. Like I tell her - I'm not that deep. I don't obsess, I don't dwell, I don't get down in the dumps and I let things go. I can't even imagine withdrawing for a day or two if something is bothering me. My favorite saying right now is "not my circus, not my monkeys".
Part of it is learned. I have an autoimmune disease that is aggravated by stress. I learned at a very young age to stop thinking of negative things and don't obsess over things I can't change.
I'm by no means "chipper" all the time, but I am always positive. And I can guarantee I'm not hiding a thing. I really do see the positive in every single thing in this life.
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It is increased personal interaction through modern communications, through mass media which appear to me to have become increasingly polarized and politicized in recent years. But even worse IMO it is social media that has been the biggest effect on increasing interaction and communication between population groups both within groups who share similar views, and between groups which are antagonistic to one another. Your American alt-left and alt-right come to my mind.
