Discussion Do you think we're wired differently than positive people?

[Forever Sleep]

David Attenborough is one of my heroes. When he was asked what his favourite animal was- he replied- us- humans. That sort of astounded me. Granted, as a living organism, we are impressive- we're at the top of the food chain afterall. Still- as someone who clearly adores the natural world, it shocked me that he would favour the species busily obliterating it.

Then, he went on to explain the reasoning- that we have the intellect to be able to turn things around. Honestly, I hope he's right but I just can't see it myself. I certainly think we'll make steps to reduce the speed at which we destroy our world but I just can't see us making the drastic changes I would think are necessary. I would imagine the biggest one is over population- and I can't see people accepting being told how many children they can have. Plus, I think the western world especially would be unwilling to let go of its creature comforts- cars, heating, processed food, all the 'stuff' we accumulate- all of which pollutes.

I just wondered- is there some difference between the way the 'normal', positive brain thinks and ours? I suspect the positive brain is more useful- more productive in coming up with solutions because it believes it will prevail. Still, it makes me wonder. I often view the positive people I have come across as strange curiosities- it's not that bad life stuff doesn't happen to them- they just seem to float above it. I just wonder if it's a natural optimism that keeps them buoyant, whether they force themselves to think like that, or whether it's all just pretence.

Anyway, it's a rambling thread really. Just curious as to what other people think. I guess we aren't born pessimists but do you suppose we have a natural tenancy to feel like this?

 

[catflowers]

yeah depression can be caused by genetics

 

[Foresight]

Yes, I think my nervous system is irregular. I personally wasn't born a pessimist, I was tortured into it by abuse. My brain is now wired to be in constant defense against attack. The more I attempted to recover the more I realized my issues with ptsd are deep in the way my brain functions. I'm curious about people who have relatively happy and peaceful lives who end up pessimists. I think all of us have different pathways to this place but I think physiological dysfunction plays a major role for some. I think happy people have better functioning bodies to support life, not just different perspectives.

I have a disfigurement and I've watched hundreds of videos of people with appearance differences from motivational speakers to people struggling with the issue. Some of them have quite severe deformities and disfigurements and yet they thrive. I think the biggest factor I found that makes a difference was supportive, loving families providing affirmations of security during childhood. You belong, you're loved, you're safe, you're valued, and this world is beautiful. I think support, stimulation, and assurance during development is essential. Stress and strain on the nervous system during development can be fatal in the long run.

 

[Superdeterminist]

It's a certainty. Our attitudes, feelings, and beliefs stem from our brain structure. Those who insist on being positive about life must therefore have a different brain structure responsible for this difference between us.

 

[niki wonoto]

Survival instinct.
It's as simple as that.

99% of human beings will always (by default) choose to survive/live, rather than die.
It's also evolutionary beneficial (although yes, even evolution can't beat the entropy, or whether we'll destroy the world)

Optimism bias (or what's nowadays/today commonly called as "toxic positivity") is part of human's nature, as a survival instinct.

 

[MountainMonkey]

I wonder the same thing.
I don't know if my darkness laid dormant until my spirit was beaten to point of no return or if loss of hope created this nihilistic, angry person

 

[wait.what]

I think we very likely are. Epigenetics is a new field of study, but it's already helped reveal quite a bit about how our environment shapes us, sometimes before we're born. Sometimes before we're conceived. Generational trauma is a thing that exists—a subtle modulation of gene expression in ancestors that may be way up the time stream from us. Whether you know it or not, your nth-great grandparents may have been enslaved people on an American plantation. They may have fled the pogroms in Tsarist Russia. They may have been a POW in Auschwitz, or a refugee-turned indentured servant during the Irish potato famine. Honestly, I find it more surprising that some of these people's descendants are not wired for permanent pessimism.

If I had a time machine (other than my own aging body, lol), I'd skip ahead to whatever time they figure important stuff out. I'd avoid screwing up the timeline with my foreknowledge by just never returning to my own time. I could zip ahead to the hypothesized Big Crunch and then do my appalling Michael Stipe impersonation as everything sunk into a singularity.

So beautiful. So annoying.

 

[hellispink]

Maybe some people destiny is to die by their own hands because their minds become a living torture, like mine. The brain chemistry plays a part of it. But I have noticed something else too, most people are dreamers and are very selfish into obtaining material goods so that is enough drive for them to handle pains overall. Some others also suffer a lot but they lie to themselves telling themselves lies every-time just to get pass in life.

 

[Fadeawaaaay]

I've grown up with a lot of delusions…

 

[Hope:-)]

Not in my case, and I don't really think it in general tbh. I used to be a v positive person and I still love life...I just don't love my life. I have things I can't change that are very painful and that's true for a lot of people here. They are not things one can feel positive about. x

 

[FuneralCry]

I think that for someone to be positive about life in a world as cruel as this then they must be delusional. Having a positive attitude towards living does not reflect how horrifying life really is where anybody can end up in the worst pain possible. I do think that life circumstances allow people to hold onto delusional beliefs about life, but I think that in general most people don't really enjoy living and only pretend to be positive in front of others.

If leaving this world is as easy as just choosing to never wake again, I can imagine that a large amount of people would choose that option. I do think that some people, like me are not suited for living at all and it's just the way that I am. To me, being suicidal is seeing the world for what it really is. I think that it is perfectly rational to want to escape from a world like this.

 

[Fadeawaaaay]

Financial anxiety has basically ruined my life from the very beginning… My parents were always worried about money and things were always breaking and there were times I didn't even have enough to eat… Then when I finally had money I didn't manage it properly and now I'm back to squalor… I've always been wracked with fear and anxiety… Financial illiteracy… Basic common sense stuff that the rest of the world seems to understand was somehow left out of my education… My parents were self admittedly bad at "business " and I was always afraid of numbers and mathematics… A perfect storm of elements combined to leave me Financially insecure… Life is full of many wonderful things that are now out of reach

 

[chloramine]

Predictions show our population declining within the next decade long term, so that aspect might work out. It's unlikely that it's a conscious effort to reduce overpopulation as much as it is that kids take a lot of time and money. There are multiple people in my friend group who don't want kids (me) or who only want one or two children.

I do believe humans can fix the mess we've made. I just don't know whether we will in time. It keeps getting put off and delayed because it will be a large expenditure short term even if it provides long term gains.

As for the question of whether people are wired differently, probably? I think that's a piece, but not the whole puzzle. We're all giant conglomerates of our environments, experiences, genes, etc. I could see people being predisposed to pessimism. I don't think that means someone would always be that way in every possible iteration of their life. Pessimism and being suicidal can be perfectly rational reactions to our surroundings. And I'm hesitant to say that people who are positive float above everything. I'm probably seen as a positive person by some people in my life and I want to die desperately. I would even identify myself as being more of an optimist than a pessimist. I believe people can be good. I believe things can improve. I just also don't want to continue living through all this. Humans have done some truly amazing things. We've also committed unspeakable atrocities. I don't believe those atrocities define what it means to be human.

 

[ForeverLonely82]

Postitive people are spoon fed yuppies that gotten their way alot of the time or fate has something actually good in store for them. Most of them are like "Durr go to therapy and work on yourself durr hurr" What if you aren't wired to do that, what if you have no drive, support system or people around who actually give a damn about you? it's impossible for people like us to find something to actually live for. Just going through the motions and have no expectations of happiness or getting better because we know at the end of the day it'll all be the same.