In our classes, I often talked about erroneous newfangled concepts. So, for example, about “positive thinking” (that is, thinking only about the good), which some people think saves us from suffering and shapes our happiness. I am happy to present an article that demonstrates additional arguments to debunk this erroneous concept.:
We benefit from negative thinking
If you are watching a video in which a personable friend under the palm trees tells you how he thought positively and achieved everything, it would be useful to remind yourself of two things. First of all, a trip to palm trees is not that expensive. Secondly, where did those who also thought positively, but achieved nothing, go?
The survivors’ mistake
During World War II, the US military asked scientists to calculate the optimal locations for placing armor on bombers. As examples, they provided data on which holes these planes returned with most often. And they wanted to place the armor in these places.
But one of the scientists, a certain Abraham Wald, cooled down the hotheads. He demanded to look for places on the hull where the surviving bombers were not damaged. There were no holes there only because the plane crashed when it hit these places. No one studied the fallen planes (they remained behind the front line) and therefore the really weak spots were not noticed — after all, they were without holes on the surviving planes. So Wald saved the military from a mistake that could have cost tens of thousands of pilots’ lives.
The mistake of survivors is our tendency to look more at those who survived, succeeded, and won. And to forget or ignore those who did not succeed. Without the opportunity to look at and examine them, we cannot form a complete picture and risk coming to very erroneous conclusions.
Everyone knows that dolphins save people. This is what the people who were pushed to shore by dolphins tell us. Have there been any cases in which dolphins have pushed people in a different direction? Can these people tell us anything?
High dream and low one
There is such a thing in psychology as a “high dream” and a “low dream”. By “high” we mean our ambitions: where we want to go and what we want to achieve. Under “low” is the worst case scenario and our fears associated with it.
Adherents of positive thinking insist that it is necessary to visualize a “high” dream. And they say, the less you think about the bad, the less you attract it into your life.
But psychology says something else. The more you focus on the “high dream”, the more you displace the “low” from your consciousness. And it goes into the “shadow” — a place in your psyche where what you cannot accept in yourself is stored. In other words, all the garbage, negativity, and hard feelings. The more attention is paid to the “light”, the more the “shadow” grows. And the more it affects you — secretly, unconsciously, uncontrollably.
Simply put, the more you deny a negative outcome, the more you do to make it happen.
Everything will be fine. As a last resort, no
In the script of any movie, any good story or fairy tale, there is always a moment when the hero remains completely defenseless. At the mercy of the enemy, without strength and means, without hope. This is the culmination of the plot. And only after it becomes obvious that nothing depends on him anymore, the situation changes. External forces come to the rescue. And the hero copes.
It’s not just in the movies. Any critical situation in life includes a moment where you are completely defenseless. At the mercy of the enemy, depending on the partner’s actions, waiting for the reaction of the market, creditors, and investors. Or they just got lost in the mountains. So, the theory of survival says that you have chances only when you accept the whole situation as it is, in all its negativity. Only then can you either get out or lose completely. But until then, you can only lose.
And your chances of not getting into this mess increase only in one case. When preparing, you consider the worst—case scenario, and first of all prepare for it. You also realize that it is impossible to prepare for everything, and you are preparing internally for even more terrible prospects.
A lot of good things are bad too
Imagine that you have organized a startup. We have posted a toy for iPhone6 in the App Store. And she “shot.” And it’s so good that it was downloaded by several million users in a month. And you, a newly registered company of three and a half people, have received your first million dollars.
Attention, question: how many colonels and from which departments will you meet at the entrance of your office on Monday? And what profitable offers will they make to you?
An adult approach to life
There is a better way to check the partners in the transaction (and even more so in the business). Take your agreements, read them and arrange a joint brainstorming session on “how we can “dump” each other.
A similar method is suitable for assessing the viability of a business: try to outline 2-3 ways to ensure the destruction of your company. 3-4 scenarios for the collapse of your startup. 5-6 times when you will have to get out of a deal, negotiation, and relationship. It scares people in a childish position so much that they will do their best to avoid such conversations.
Strictly speaking, “positive thinking” is an echo of an archaic, from early childhood, “magical” attitude to the world. In which there are all-powerful adults, and if they are properly influenced, they will definitely buy a toy, and maybe even cancel the rain.
Three scenarios
The samurai became invincible only in one case. If he was mentally dying before the start of the fight. His death became the most negative scenario for him, which he fully accepted. This possible outcome stopped hanging over his mind like a frightening shadow — and did not interfere with his work. The fight could have ended in death. But he didn’t care anymore.
If you don’t have the worst—case scenario, be sure he’ll come knocking on your door. Out of the shadows. Therefore, it is better to prepare for his meeting in advance. And practice recognizing a guest by barely audible footsteps.
The second scenario is the most optimistic. It is also difficult and dangerous, and you also need to prepare for it in advance.
The third scenario is the most likely, boring, average one. It’s a good idea to work it out, at least in order to see the possibilities of getting out of the rut.
Only then will your worldview be at least somewhat closer to reality. Although not completely.
Everyone come out of the twilight
The only way to make good money from positive thinking is to write books and conduct seminars on the topic of positive thinking.
If you want to succeed in another field, the first thing you need to do is bring all your fears, doubts and horrors to the light of day. And make a detailed inventory of them.
At a minimum, there you will find a lot of energy, strength and emotions that it took you years to contain this serpentarium. Instead of working on your own achievements.
And anyway, it’s so nice to feel like a gloomy, vindictive, pessimistic freak sometimes. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone anymore.
A. Sorokoumov.
In conclusion, I want to say that we really shape our reality, or rather our thoughts, images and actions.: “Everything in the world is energy. Energy is at the core of everything. If you tune into the energy frequency of the reality that you want to create for yourself, then you will get exactly what your frequency is tuned to.
This is not a philosophy.
This is physics.”
Albert Einstein.
but!
We must not forget that not only years, but also lives can pass between what we think now and when it manifests itself.;
And the most important thing is that negative thinking is not working out the disaster options that we were given at birth in our world, as a result of our past accumulated karma. And even if we are not currently experiencing the suffering of other people we see, then this is our future karma one way or another, and in any case, the same thing can happen to us if we do not purify it. Many people just feel that they can be expected based on the information that is already embedded inside their mental archives, so their fears sometimes materialize.
Negative thinking is our thinking colored by negative emotions, according to the obscurations of our mind (anger, greed, ignorance) And all the other wrong actions that lead to suffering come from them.
