People who tend to be optimistic are likelier to live to 85 or more: study • Hacker News Board

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

#131

Post by asdfman123 » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:00 PM UTC

aytekin wrote: post #38

More likely: "People who live 85 or more have more of the good things like health and safe environment which also makes them optimistic."

I thought that too, but then read the second paragraph:

> 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," the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health say.

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

#132

Post by maratd » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:01 PM UTC

hadiz wrote: post #130

"Optimism Bias" improves our mental and physical well-being. Biases are irrational, by definition. Our mind is supposedly rational...and rationality is not always to our benefit. This kinda blew my mind when I was reading up some philosophy. My key takeaway was that rationality and logic is not always helpful to make decisions, esp. when it comes to complex systems such as people (i.e. relationships). As an engineer,…

> As an engineer, it's tough to get past this mindset.

Seems that way considering how you're being downvoted. A shame.

As engineers, we should be more concerned with what actually works, not with what works inside our heads.

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

#133

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:01 PM UTC

FrankyHollywood wrote: post #68

kristiandupont wrote: post #50

Yesterday, my wife stumbled upon a "20 pieces of good news" article and read it to me. Things like initiatives being taken to save the bees etc. At first I thought it was a bit silly but I realized that hearing all those good things did something wonderful: it made me feel quite optimistic on behalf of the world, which I can't say I have in a while (in spite of my own life going quite well). Keeping informed is the d…

With 8 billion people around something bad is always happening every second. For that reasen I uninstalled all news apps years ago. I'm never bothered with 'breaking news' or anything. I pick a few moments a day to look at some news sites. And I always start with world news, and end with HN, keeps me positive :)

[deleted]

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

#134

Post by asdfman123 » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:02 PM UTC

Pessimists' outlook: pessimistic

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

#135

Post by achenatx » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:03 PM UTC

Gravityloss wrote: post #109

achenatx wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, Ive been very fortunate to have a positive brain chemistry. When bad things have happened, my brain pretty much doesn't worry on them. Eventually things work out (or something good eventually happens) and I get through the bad times. There is no way to explain or describe this positive brain chemistry in a way that anyone can believe. But since I was a kid, my parents have been worried that Im too happy…

I do annoying things to avoid bad things from happening in the future. If one is very optimistic, then one would not believe the bad things would happen and thus one would not be very motivated to do the annoying things. For example do you wear a seat belt or brush your teeth? I know the questions may sound a bit offensive but I'm honestly interested in hearing people's motivations.

I do, because wearing a seatbelt is not that annoying. It just doesn't bother me. Being optimistic doesnt mean that I don't think bad things will happen to me, just that it will be ok, or not be ok. Either way there is always something positive to come out of every situation.

There are some paths that I would prefer, but even the bad paths have lots of positives.

During the 2010 recession we had a client that owed us 700K and I could tell from reading the 10Q was on the verge of bankruptcy. I had my team work very hard to collect our money. We got it and when they went bankrupt we survived while a lot of our peers went out of business. It isnt that I believed we would be ok, but that if we had not been able to collect the money and went out of business that would have been an incredible learning experience and something good would have come out of it.

Every outcome is not equally desired, I would rather be in business than not be in business. But not being in business, losing your home, becoming bankrupt etc. just doesnt stress me out. I have lived on 10K/year before and been incredibly happy. Even when I was digging change out of the couch to afford to buy food.

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

#136

Post by achenatx » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

wozniacki wrote: post #115

achenatx wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, Ive been very fortunate to have a positive brain chemistry. When bad things have happened, my brain pretty much doesn't worry on them. Eventually things work out (or something good eventually happens) and I get through the bad times. There is no way to explain or describe this positive brain chemistry in a way that anyone can believe. But since I was a kid, my parents have been worried that Im too happy…

Does it ever bother you when people find that youre "too happy" which people might take it to mean that no outcome to any given event, can really displease you? Have you read up on what such a "condition" - if it can be called that - is called medically? Do others share it as well?

the way people see it is that I dont react to bad situations. I have been called "stone cold". I have sometimes wondered if it is related to sociopathy. I am a giving person and would rather give than receive, so am not very selfish. However, bad things just dont bother me because there is always something positive that comes out of everything.

When my wife had an aortic dissection and had a high chance of dying, people had a hard time understanding how I could be so calm and not be stressed. It wasnt that I was sure she was going to make it, just that no matter the outcome I would still find happiness.

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

#137

Post by non-entity » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:09 PM UTC

autokad wrote: post #40

heavyset_go wrote: post #37

I can't think of a more literal example of survivorship bias.

there is no way I'm making it to 85

Statistically, I'll die in my mid-70s (although I'm being slightly disingenuous in saying that), but I never understood why we strive to live so old anyway. After a while, what can you do? Many older people already rot in nursing homes. Perhaps if you've built something of significant value like a company or family that you want to see as long as possible it makes sense, but how will achieve that?

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

#138

Post by refurb » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:14 PM UTC

4ntonius8lock wrote: post #19

vasilipupkin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would guess causality runs the other way: people with high stress in life have lower life expectancy and also tend to be less optimistic because it’s easier to be optimistic if things are going well for you

I'd say there's even a third option, the causality runs back AND forth (both good thoughts can lead to good outcomes as well as bad outcomes can lead to bad thoughts and vice a versa) Even in this third option there exist an infinite number of sub options on a gradient (where each direction carries more or less weight). Of course, any meaningful conversation can only happen after definitions (like what is pessimistic…

It probably goes both ways?

It’s well known that two people can have the exact same experience (e.g. fighting in a war, experience a natural disaster) and have vastly different psychological outcomes from it. Some can deal with it easily, while others are crippled by it.

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

#139

Post by celim307 » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:14 PM UTC

hadiz wrote: post #130

"Optimism Bias" improves our mental and physical well-being. Biases are irrational, by definition. Our mind is supposedly rational...and rationality is not always to our benefit. This kinda blew my mind when I was reading up some philosophy. My key takeaway was that rationality and logic is not always helpful to make decisions, esp. when it comes to complex systems such as people (i.e. relationships). As an engineer,…

Most memorable advice I got from my engineering professor: “you can get pretty far on feelings”

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

#140

Post by agumonkey » Mon, Dec 23, 2019, 3:17 PM UTC

hadiz wrote: post #130

"Optimism Bias" improves our mental and physical well-being. Biases are irrational, by definition. Our mind is supposedly rational...and rationality is not always to our benefit. This kinda blew my mind when I was reading up some philosophy. My key takeaway was that rationality and logic is not always helpful to make decisions, esp. when it comes to complex systems such as people (i.e. relationships). As an engineer,…

Rational is also quite often faked under how you feel. Sadness makes you analytic, but also myopic so your conclusions are not that valid.

It's always good to balance things and aim for positivity (but not foolishness).