Why all the focus on positive thinking vs negative thinking? Why not realistic thinking?

Question

I don't understand all the hype these days about positive thinking and to avoid negative thinking. The scientific method is based on "Critical Reasoning" (not positive reasoning) supported by observation and that has worked pretty well I think.
I find, for myself, dwelling on the positive is just as likely to produce failures as is dwelling on the negative. Why not put effort on keeping the thinking realistic? That's what works for me anyhow. Even if the realistic assessment is pretty gloomy, I find this is better than not being realistic.

Answer 1

Realistic thinking is always the ideal, of course, but what happens when someone is in an uncontrollable situation? For instance, what happens when you lose all ability to understand the real world? When someone is depressed, for example, the real world is gone, life becomes a nightmare. In helping these people, positive thinking, no matter how off base, can help to lead them towards achieving normalcy in their lives. Positive thinking also helps in everyday events. In going into a test, it has been proven that positive thoughts can help increase your mood and ability to focus as compared to negative thoughts which can leave you in a bad mood with thoughts about what will happen if you fail.

Ultimately, positive thinking shifts your focus from "I can't" to "I can"

Answer 2

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Answer 3

you are absolutely right. Believe me, don't buy the hype about only thinking positive it is a complete act of denial of life's suffering. History has shown that the wisest such as the Buddhists and Stoics accepted suffering but didnt deny it like today's mainstream psychologists are telling you. Absolute positivity throughout life is only possible by negating negative which is possible by denying negativity, which itself is caused by suffering, and therefore it is an act of denying suffering. You have to be realistic, because your options are more open on the table. Sometimes pursuits in life become too difficult or impossible that it becomes frivolous chasing after them and its better to give up or change your path and yes it does sound gloomy but it is necessary to avoid dying within 3 days! If i were completely positive and never negative i would be reckless and completely hazardous to myself. This extra creamy potpie and delicious cake is ok for me because ill never have heart problems I can run through the street without looking in my peripheral became i will make it! Now im just pointing out the extremes, but understand - this is the direction these extreme optimists are pointing towards with all its irrationality and narrow-mindedness.

Answer 4

This does not deviate from the meaning of realistic thinking, it is simply a method to help people focus on the good things instead of the bad because whatever we focus on seems to become greater and more powerful as time goes on.
When we think about a beloved family member, we understand that that individual has qualities which are both negative and positive but most often we tend to consider those points which are more light than darkness. Why look down when we can look up?? I suppose you could say we are simply protecting our psyche.

By the way, I appreciate your "inquiring" mind, so keep looking UP!!!

Answer 5

The reason for the importance of positive thinking is that the vast majority of problems in this world, whether small day-to-day problems, or very large problems facing society or the world as a whole, involve people. Almost all of the important problems involve people.

The dry, objective approach of logic and reasoning that is put forth by the scientific method is often highly overrated. I've studied quite a lot of science and even done some academic research in science, but even I will admit that this approach has its limitations. This approach can only be used effectively when a problem is very well-defined, and when the goal is to evaluate whether something is true or false.

If you're trying to actually get something done, in society, then it's all about people though. Usually, you already know what needs to be done, but you need to convince others to cooperate with you, give you permission, give you financial support, work together with you, or do something else. In this case, logic and reason is usually not the best way to persuade people--people work more on the basis of trust, personal connections, and emotions. If someone has a negative attitude, or even a neutral attitude, they will be very unlikely to lend you their support. On the other hand, if someone approaches them with a positive attitude they will be much more likely to lend their support.

Realistic reasoning is important; it has its role. It's important whenever you're trying to answer a question. But most of the time, that's not what you're doing in life--when you want to actually get something done, positive thinking is the way to go!

I hope this answers your question!

Answer 6

people focus on being positive rather than being too realistic because that sets the mood for doing something. if you already know that something will not work out well in your plans for example, what a person who is positively thinking will do is to hope for the best and still try to make the most out of the situation to turn the "bad signs" away. however, if you are being too realistic, you will probably just sit back and settle for everything that's happening that may lead to the failure or destruction of your plan. see the difference? positive thinking urges a person to hope for the better and at the same time, do some things to really make his/her plans happen. on the other hand, too much realistic thinking may lead a person to being too much pessimistic and result to doing absolutely nothing not even an attempt to turn the table around. in these situations, common sense definitely apply so you shouldn't do anything too stupid or crazy to achieve something...but if you're a risk taker, try to widen your thinking set your mind to success...in that way, you can actually do things to make everything okay...besides, there's nothing wrong in trying...right?!

Answer 7

It appears that you answered your own question, yet I find some ambiguity in "realistic assessment is pretty gloomy" yet you express the feeling that there's too much "hype" on negative thinking. If realistic thinking is gloomy, then isn't it also negative? You define "Critical reasoning" in your second paragraph. If this works well for you, I wonder why you asked this question. I am NOT being critical of you; I'm just wondering..which is part of my "job."

Answer 8

People do not want reality. Think about it, people send all day on myspace and watching tv. Reality and realists usually seem negative but that is only because of all the bad things in the world. They do outnumber the good and people do not want to accept that. But sometimes the positive is reality, ex. I think that I am going to get the best answer for this question. ;)

Answer 9

My understanding of positive thinking is that after realizing the negative things, I try to solve them and come out with a better product, service, or whatever. Critical thinking is good because we are able to see both sides of the issue. To neglect one does not complete the picture. Some people are offended when we use that type of thinking and we should not take it against them. In my case, I try to find the common ground between two ideas and try to reconcile them. I get the good things from both and use it further to attain my goal.

Answer 10

What passes for realistic thinking is very often simply ignoring possibilities. My parents taught me to be realistic and that meant I could never afford to go to college and would have to work hard at things I hated instead of following my dreams. It took me a long time to figure out that being realistic is over rated and that once you start focusing on what you want instead of what you have (and don't have) possibilities open up. Reality is a lot bigger than realistic thinkers give it credit for.