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Optimism and the truth

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sunblue:
I think this is a great topic.  I've struggled with this issue in my family for as long as I can remember.  I have a brother (who was somehow spared any significant consequences of being raised by an N) and sister-in-law who are enternal optimists.  Their opinion of me, I know, is that I am a pessimist.  They have taught their only child that anything is possible in life, you just have to be positive.  I have always argued with them that this is possible for them since they have been spared any tragedies in their lives or challenges most people have (this is true; they have been truly blessed in their lives).  I've argued that when you struggle with clinical depression, other illnesses or a myrid of other issues, it's hard to be an optimist.  They simply refused to accept that others have challenges which would prevent them from having a positive outlook on life.

I've always considered myself a realist, neither an optimist nor pessimist.  But I've also believed that a critical reason people are either optimists or pessimists are due to the circumstances thrown at them in life.  Of course, most people respond, that it's not what happens in your life but how you choose to respond to it that counts.  Easier said than done when people are thrown non-stop with negative circumstances or challenges.  I think part of this issue is that those who have been more blessed than most can't relate to those who haven't had the luck in life they had.    Doesn't optimism, in part, come from some bit of hope, founded in real evidence, that life can get better?

In any event, an important topic to address.

Lupita:
I think that everything is chemistry and our brain is not the exception. Some chemicals produce anxiety and some produce peacefulness. Some produce hyperactivity and some stillness. Dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, or the scarcity of any of them. That is in the genes. And optimism and negativism is also depending on those. THE GENES. The genes codify for proteins that increase or reduce production or certain chemicals that affect the mood and the way we see things. Or, have we been in love? When we are reciprocated from the love of our dreams don’t we all feel like in the sky? When that happen we see things different and even inconvenients and bad situations are perceived more positively. Those are effects of endorphins produced by the feelings of love. That is why many people get addicted to new love because they want to feel that sensation. And that is chemical and chemistry is produce by our genes. That is what I have been reading. So, if you do not like my comment, do not kill the messenger.

cat:
I would say I'm a pessimist.  Plan for the worst and hope for the best outcome.   Living as a single in a world of couples - being self-reliant - this is a way I need to live in order not to have loads of drama.

That said, sometimes the best laid plans - even planning for the worst do not take into account fires, floods, robberies and car thefts.  I guess I would think that pessimism and optimism, in my life, are based on life experiences.  It may be that being an optomist can be scarey.  For instance, for example, you go in for a medical test for some disease - and you believe absolutely positively that you do not have it - internally - how does one process the devastating news when you find out you have it.  If you go into a medical test planning for the worst - hoping for the best - is the emotional drop a far harder thing to experience than if you had gone in with an optomist attitude.  Things that make me go hmmm. . . .

Meh:

Recently I went to a therapist who's style is "positive psychology". Where I guess basically they build on what is working and what is right and try to expand those areas instead of focusing on what is wrong.

She told me that when she was in school studying psychology she found information that said a person's positive or negative outlook was 50% genetic and she said that means that some people will always have to work harder to "be happy".

I didn't ask her specifically what information she was referring to that said 50% is genetic.

I don't really understand it totally and I wondered if I agree with how she interpreted the meaning of this but that is because I'm always a skeptic.

Here is something else: http://www.med.wisc.edu/quarterly/news/parents-stress-leaves-mark-on-dna-of-children/32279

So is it in the brain at birth, is it in the formation of the brain over time and experience, is it in the genes, how important are the genes. Why is it in the genes? Does nature think that stress is a evolutional advantage?
Some say that we are these organic beings that flex in multiple ways along with our living environment.

I think scientists and drug manufacturers are trying to pinpoint happy and they really can't because they are not looking at it from a system perspective.

There is also information out there that indicates something about how genetic tendencies must be activated by the environment or are impacted by the environment meaning that a person can have a predisposition BUT nurture still is important.
Nature + Nurture

Meh:
Bouncing screen. Need to open another. (someone knows how to fix this right?)


Sometimes I think that behaving in an optimistic way does help pave the structure of a better future.

Certainly behaving in a non-optimistic way impacts the future (I think).
It is maybe a little bit of a self fullfilling prophesy.

What is the expression of happy though? Some people have a mannerism that appears "happy" they are bubbly even if what has happened that day wasn't great for them. So maybe some of it just has to do with how they represent themselves.

Cheeriness is body language and speech. Not every function in society calls for this personality type.

Is there some kind of social expectation that we are all supposed to act like cheer leaders all of the time, GO TEAM!!!

Last night I talked with one of my "neighbors", she said that if she ran into an old friend and they said how are you doing?
She would just smile big and lie. "I'm great!"

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