What's wrong with realistic negativity?

We can learn a lot from the ancient thinkers, writes Peter Lyons.

I hate the cult of positivity. It denies reality. It has a saccharine, unpalatable flavour that invites disillusion. What's wrong with a healthy dose of realistic negativity? I equate the power of positive thinking with the new age mantra of ``mindfulness''. Puerile mumbo jumbo.

Yet there is much more going on here. These mantras are not just simplistic slogans designed to sell self-help books. They are steeped in philosophical traditions that predate the emergence of Christianity.

The cult of positive thinking is actually a sad inversion of a tradition promoted by the classical philosophy of stoicism.

Stoicism has a bad rap these days, likely due to the fact early Christianity borrowed a number of its traditions then prohibited its teachings. It then largely disappeared as a practical approach to healthy living. Being a stoic became associated with denying emotions and feelings.

Stoicism is actually a much more subtle approach to life than this caricature portrays. It is a practical philosophy used as a pathway through life by many early Romans, including slaves and emperors. Marcus Aurelius, arguably one of the greatest Roman emperors, was a disciple of stoicism.

The power of positive thinking is largely a product of modern capitalist mythology: we can all be winners in life if we simply set our minds to it.

This puerile denial of human reality was championed by authors such as Horatio Alger in 19th-century America and later, Dale Carnegie. Alger wrote quasi-inspirational novels about young orphans from impoverished backgrounds who reached positions of great wealth and power through sheer grit and determination. The John Keys of their day. It was wonderful, stirring stuff designed to inspire the masses. Alger was eventually discredited for an unhealthy interest in young people. But his legacy lives on in attacks on government assistance to the needy.

We are all meant to be self-reliant. This is a sad denial of much of the positive collective action of the 20th century, particularly in areas such as education and healthcare.

I like the ancient stoic inversion of the power of positive thinking. They taught the power of negative visualisation. To overcome the nasty, short and brutal nature of ancient life they taught the need to appreciate that things can always be worse. That life and most things in it are transitory. That we are all irrelevant in the general scheme of things. So don't sweat the small stuff, just appreciate the miracle of your own existence and make the most of it. It is a precious gift, so be sure to live as good a life as possible. Things seldom turn out as bad as we think.

As for the recent popularity of ``mindfulness'' . It is neither recent nor original. The stoic philosophy was teaching this concept more than 2000 years ago. Mindfulness simply means appreciating the moment, being in the moment and reacting appropriately. Not overreacting at poor service in a restaurant or a perceived slight on social media, being appropriate in your actions in the here and now. Not succumbing to negative emotions such as anger or jealousy or envy. Just recognising and controlling your own emotional responses to external factors. Recognising that you cannot always control what happens to you but you do have control over how you respond to situations. This is crucial to a good life.

Sadly, in our modern age dominated by the need for constant connection and instant gratification we have lost sight of ancient traditions such as mindfulness and the power of negative visualisation. The ancient thinkers can teach us a lot.

Peter Lyons teaches economics at St Peter's College in Epsom and has written several economics texts.

Comments

Decency, boundaries, consideration, assertive not aggressive? They call it "PC".

PC did not work PC caused the right to become popular. People can say what others should or should not be or behave like.....in the real world people do as they like.