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People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

npr.org

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Re: People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

#31

Post by halflings »

KerrickStaley wrote: post #25
ligand wrote: post #22

I really wish articles written about studies like this, where all they found was a association between stuff, and not a causal relationship, would explicitly say so. Perhaps through a little box near the end of the article stating, in simple terms, "the authors found that X and Y are associated. This does not necessarily mean that doing X will cause Y" I know the people who read the actual study in journal, entitled…

And in this case, you could easily imagine the arrow of causation pointing in the other way. If you have the good fortune of being generally healthy, and make enough income to have access to good healthcare, it's likely that you will live to 85. But these same factors also make you a likely optimist.

Just copy-pasting neonate's quote from the article, responding to a similar comment:

_That finding was independent of other factors thought to influence life's length — such as "socioeconomic status, health conditions, depression, social integration, and health behaviors"_

Literally the second paragraph on the article.

Read the article before posting comments, folks! :)

Re: People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

#32

Post by Zod666 »

boyadjian wrote: post #14

Maybe optimism is profitable on an individual basis. But at the collective level, I am not sure it is such a good idea. Anyway, not being optimistic does not mean you must be pessimistic : We just have to be realistic. That mean, accepting the world for what it is, and not what we want it to be.

I haven't read the article yet but I've heard stats like this before. Is it simply the effect of a positive emotional state? When my friend and I were talking about this I said:

'Be happy. Or else.'

Re: People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

#33

Post by rectang »

Zod666 wrote: post #32
boyadjian wrote: post #14

Maybe optimism is profitable on an individual basis. But at the collective level, I am not sure it is such a good idea. Anyway, not being optimistic does not mean you must be pessimistic : We just have to be realistic. That mean, accepting the world for what it is, and not what we want it to be.

I haven't read the article yet but I've heard stats like this before. Is it simply the effect of a positive emotional state? When my friend and I were talking about this I said: 'Be happy. Or else.'

Or else we'll put the happy helmet on you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVM1nUmDHHc (Ren & Stimpy Happy Happy Joy Joy Song)

Re: People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

#35

Post by WilliamEdward »

boyadjian wrote: post #14

Maybe optimism is profitable on an individual basis. But at the collective level, I am not sure it is such a good idea. Anyway, not being optimistic does not mean you must be pessimistic : We just have to be realistic. That mean, accepting the world for what it is, and not what we want it to be.

Being optimistic and realistic will always be better than just being realistic. The two aren't at odds and having things to look forward to is what separates the miserable from the successful.

Re: People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

#36

Post by drusepth »

boyadjian wrote: post #14

Maybe optimism is profitable on an individual basis. But at the collective level, I am not sure it is such a good idea. Anyway, not being optimistic does not mean you must be pessimistic : We just have to be realistic. That mean, accepting the world for what it is, and not what we want it to be.

Thiel has a good chapter on dichotomizing optimism/pessimism as it relates to building the future in his Zero to One book. Someone else can probably quote it better, but it basically boils down adding a definite/indefinite qualifier also.

He posits:

- Definite pessimists have a concrete negative potential future in mind and often work to subjugate it

- Indefinite pessimists have a vague "the future looks negative" and don't act on concrete plans to improve it

- Definite optimists have a concrete positive potential future in mind and often work to make it a reality

- Indefinite optimists often have a vague "everything will be fine" mindset and rely on others to make that a reality

On a general sense, I'd wager that both optimists and negatives are a good idea to have at the collective level, as both are driven by similar but different motivations. I'd say it's the definite subsets of each group that are "realistic" and "useful" as it pertains to the future, rather than either larger group as a whole.

Re: People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study

#39

Post by Zod666 »

rectang wrote: post #33
Zod666 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't read the article yet but I've heard stats like this before. Is it simply the effect of a positive emotional state? When my friend and I were talking about this I said: 'Be happy. Or else.'

Or else we'll put the happy helmet on you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVM1nUmDHHc (Ren & Stimpy Happy Happy Joy Joy Song)

I told you I'd shoot, but you didn't believe me. Why didn't you believe me!
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