Why no one seems to write books about the power of negative thinking

Have you ever asked yourself why are people so negative? You can't do this, you can't do that. This negativity affects every aspect of our lives and our relationships. I think it's all about fear and fear of failure.

My belief is that negative thinking kept us alive back in the caveman days. The fear of all things dangerous made a difference in our survival. I don't think any caveman survived by positive thinking and optimism. The pragmatic thinking that I may die, if I don’t look for danger, kept everyone alive. The negative person was the winner.

That same negative thinking probably affected relationships. Any man or woman who helped you survive was a good person. A day when everyone made it back to the cave alive at the end of the day was a good day.

So how does positive thinking affect us today?

Well this excerpt from the opinion pages of The New York Times makes an interesting point.

The Power of Negative Thinking

GREED — and its crafty sibling, speculation — are the designated culprits for the financial crisis. But another, much admired, habit of mind should get its share of the blame: the delusional optimism of mainstream, all-American, positive thinking.

Positive thinking is endemic to American culture — from weight loss programs to cancer support groups — and in the last two decades it has put down deep roots in the corporate world as well. Everyone knows that you won’t get a job paying more than $15 an hour unless you’re a “positive person,” and no one becomes a chief executive by issuing warnings of possible disaster.

When it comes to how we think, “negative” is not the only alternative to “positive.” As the case histories of depressives show, consistent pessimism can be just as baseless and deluded as its opposite. The alternative to both is realism — seeing the risks, having the courage to bear bad news and being prepared for famine as well as plenty. We ought to give it a try.

By Barbara Ehrenreich - Published September 23, 2008

It seems that positive thinking may not be all that it is cracked up to be. But negative thinking, in my opinion, has helped us survive for long time.

The Kitchen Table Anthropologist