Smile or Die
Can we all change reality with our thoughts? This funny/scary video begins about how positive thinking is almost mandatory in the corporate culture, but it then moves into the areas of politics and even theodicy as well. I find creepy the championing of the notion that our thoughts and beliefs create our reality, and that a positive attitude about a bad situation, whether it's job loss or health loss (or the church sex abuse crisis), is actually more important than the situation itself .... this robs people of the chance to work for actual change.
posted by crystal | 2:43 PM
7 Comments:
What an insightful post - by the way, I will have been unemployed for going one year on July 1!
Thank you!
Jana
Hi Jana
Over the course of our lifetimes I think it's safe to say our culture has grown sicker. The "positivity" business is a real sign of the times - that so many people are ready to buy into this and so many hucksters/deluded folks are prepared to, very often, literally sell it.
Being genuinely positive has never been a matter of being in denial about the existence of real adversity in life.
Hi Paul,
Yeah. The idea that we create our own reality is so attractive.
I don't know about positive thinking in corporate culture, so cannot discuss that. But I think any notion that our thoughts and beliefs create reality is much too simplistic a notion.
On the other hand, there is value in acknowledging that you and I see a different version of reality; and that in different moods I will myself see different versions of reality.
I'd suggest that the causality implied in the funny/scary video (please forgive me for not taking the time to watch any of it) may be the wrong way round, and that our reality creates our thoughts and beliefs; or to be a little less simplistic, our response to our individual version of reality creates our thoughts and beliefs.
But I couldn't prove it.
Having now watched most of the video, I see that I misunderstood your reference to it (sorry for that) but I stand by what I said above anyhow.
Vincent,
I do think the way we look at things colors our relaity - we all have different interpretations of reality - but I think (but don't know) that reality is a certain way and cannot be actually changed by our thoughts.
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