Some Good News!

“Calling someone an optimist these days may be the polite way to say he's a sap. Optimism often occupies a second-class compartment in the train of human values, and is derided as a naive, soft-soap disposition that distorts the realities of life.

“Yet, in the palette of human temperament, a rose-colored view of the future is the dominant hue, regardless of culture or nationality…

“Two research teams exploring the anatomy of expectations offer a new perspective on the power of a positive outlook…

“Far from deforming our view of the future, this penchant for life's silver lining shapes our decisions about family, health, work and finances in surprisingly prudent ways… 'Economists have focused on optimism as a miscalibration, as a distorted view of the future,' said Duke finance scholar David T. Robinson. 'A little bit of optimism is associated with a lot of positive economic choices' ...

“Optimists, the Duke finance scholars discovered, worked longer hours every week, expected to retire later in life, were less likely to smoke and, when they divorced, were more likely to remarry. They also saved more, had more of their wealth in liquid assets, invested more in individual stocks and paid credit-card bills more promptly.

“Yet those who saw the future too brightly -- people who in the survey overestimated their own likely lifespan by 20 years or more -- behaved in just the opposite way, the researchers discovered.

“Rather than save, they squandered. They postponed bill-paying. Instead of taking the long view, they barely looked past tomorrow. Statistically, they were more likely to be day traders…

“The influence of optimism on human behavior is so pervasive that it must have survival value, researchers speculate, and may give us the ability to act in the face of uncertain odds…

“All in all, Dr. Seligman said, optimists tend to do better in life than their talents alone might suggest.

“Except lawyers.

“Surveying law students at the University of Virginia, he found that pessimists got better grades, were more likely to make law review and, upon graduation, received better job offers. There was no scientific reason. 'In law,' he said, 'pessimism is considered prudence'."

(“Except in One Career, Our Brains Seem Built for Optimism.” Robert Lee Hotz. Wall Street Journal: November 9, 2007. pg. B.1)

ISN'T IT NICE to see the bright side of things once in awhile? In the face of possibly daunting uncertainty, why not juice our survival odds in any little way that we can? Let's all go tell a lawyer, or an economist, to have a great day!