Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
New York, 6:11 AM
Fri Nov 27
2 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
tips@jezebel.com
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
Email | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
Email | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
Email | Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
Email | Twitter
Sadie Stein
Email | Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
Email | Twitter
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
Email | Twitter
Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Email
Lizzie Skurnick
Email
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/03/09
11/03/09
Do you know what I also just realized? This totally explains why I have gotten zero work done and committed like twenty boneheaded incidents of moronism since we got our new kitten on Friday. I'm totally being serious; he just makes me giddy and silly and full of delight, and I can't focus on anything. KITTY.
His name is Oliver. Ain't he cute? #emotions
11/03/09
I've always maintained that he was the smartest bear around, and not that glutton, happy-go-lucky prick Yogi. #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
My negativity is a gift. #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
Warning - article mentions evolutionary psych. #emotions
11/03/09
I believe in it.
(Although people who specialize in denial -- a surprisingly substantial percentage of the culture -- may not want to hear what you have to say. Then you are excoriated for being, on good days, the killjoy, and on bad days, the crazy person who should never be believed, even if you turn out to be correct. I've thought about changing my name to Cassandra since I read that myth when I was about nine.) #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
Seriously, I think that there have been some studies on liberal and conservative thinking that are sorta jive with this.
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
But since when as that been a desirable characteristic in America? Ours is a culture based on bull-headed surety--three hundred million people who are certain they'll get to the top if they only just believe, and never give an ounce of thought to whether or not they'll actually do a good job when they get there.
I dunno, maybe everywhere it's like that. I hear the Fins are a pretty miserable people, though. #emotions
11/03/09
Rampant stereotyping? Sure, but that seems to be de rigueur in this thread, so long as we're talking about how we're all so much better than *those* people. #emotions
11/03/09
Also, I wouldn't characterize your statement as rampant stereotyping at all. I'd say it was anecdotal, and probably invalid due to insufficient sample-size. #emotions
11/03/09
Yes, it's in response to this:
"But since when as that been a desirable characteristic in America? Ours is a culture based on bull-headed surety--three hundred million people who are certain they'll get to the top if they only just believe, and never give an ounce of thought to whether or not they'll actually do a good job when they get there." #emotions
11/03/09
I read Ehrenreich's book over the weekend, and thought it was genius. People who tend to conflate positivity with happiness or satisfaction, and "negativity" with depression or unhappiness or unproductiveness should really read it. It's a good deal more complex than that. And it seems quite obvious to me that positivity as we now understand it has the capacity to render people incapable of critical thought. It is, in practice and in theory, thought-terminating. Real growth and development comes out of dissatisfaction, with an ability to identify and solve problems, to think analytically. Until we understand how positivity is used to prevent us from upsetting the apple cart, so to speak, we're not going to be able to move forward. #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
Could it be that you're trying to take a universal (people being stupid at times) and trying to pin it on the people you don't identify with? #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
And I agree that there are at least two different kinds of "positivity," and that often gets lost in the discussion, particularly by critics who feel the book attacks some of their most dearly-held beliefs. As a lifelong depressive, I'm certainly familiar with positive thinking and its purported powers. I contend, however, that what I do to get myself out of bed in the morning is absolutely not the same thing as what motivational speakers of this sort are shilling, or what companies that use these techniques are trying to accomplish. #emotions
11/03/09
You could probably construct a paragraph in direct opposition to the above, referencing The Secret, Suze Orman, self-help gurus, etc. It's almost like we both tend to notice the things that stick in our proverbial craw more, regardless of whether or not they're more prevalent... #emotions
11/03/09
Not to speak for TheFormerJB, but I think the reason that some of us are so glad to see some people starting to talk about the other side of all this "positive thinking" is that it has been being presented and is generally thought of as being at worse harmless, and I don't think it is. #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
Maybe that's why a certain type of man is only interested in a woman who can be "sunny all the time".
She can never turn her critical eye on any BS aspects of his behavior if she doesn't even have one. #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
Don't get me started. Either on that or that the same "ethic" seems to be promoted at work that's supposed to be the credo of the cheery wingwoman.
*rolleyes*
And they say we're in a 'post-feminist' culture now. Okay! #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
"Get me a drink!"; Mark Twain #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
Our society really doesn't like people harshing its vibe. This is probably why I can't stand our society. #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
What a jackass that guy is. What did you say to him? If you want me to begin Facebook stalking you I am not averse to schooling my friends' idiotic Facebook friends in comments. :) #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
I think that's true that people often construct this self-image for themselves, as one of the chosen few who "really get it" unlike the rest of the drones/sheeple/sunny happy idiots/Others.
Whether or not this actually holds true in practice is an open question.
When you're a negative person, the stupid happy people stick out to you more.
I'm a positive person; the stupid unhappy people stick out to me more.
When you're a hammer, everything looks like a... #emotions
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09