There’s this overwhelming societal perception that being positive is more valid and morally correct than being negative. If you’re negative about something you’re seen as a whiner or a hater or a stick in the mud. Meanwhile, being undauntingly positive even in the face of reason, experience or logic is seen as a preferable state of being. This trend of toxic positivity has rendered the world a place ruled by delusion, fake smiles and comforting lies while marginalising all the Negative Nancys who dare to speak out about what they perceive to be unjust, unfair or untenable. I get why people prefer positivity, but when are we going to face facts and accept that positivity can be just as selfish and destructive as negativity, if not more so?
Comments
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
I don’t know what internet you’re on but the current mood nowadays is negative equals realism when really being a realist is accepting both the positive and negative aspects of any situation. Everything is met with a negative tone and when you’re positive, you are looked at as being naive or unrealistic.
I mean, it is. The pygmalion effect is pretty well documented to be a real thing.
If you are in a bad situation, you are better off with a positive outlook than a negative one, because you need to squeeze out all the potential you can have at the moment you have the opportunity to do something about it.
You can recognize something is bad and move on from constantly bitching about it to come up with solutions.
I think you are confusing being toxic and positive.
Are you conflating Denial with Positivity?
Denial of issues involves shutting down conversations, ignoring warnings, and avoiding confrontations so you can keep acting as if everything is and will be okay.
Positivity is actively looking for ways things are good or ways things can improve despite the existing negatives that exist. Negativity is showcasing the current bad or worst case situations.
This took me a second to digest but I think I see your point. Let’s say there are three people dealing with a specific situation. One person is extremely positive about a situation, one very negative, and one who is neutral. Let’s now say that the neutral person is the only one who sees the situation with complete reason, experience and logic and has come to the objectively “correct” conclusion about the situation.
In this case positivity is not more valid than negativity.
I do know toxically positive people, as well as toxically negative people. Despite reason and logic they tend to let those emotions get in the way of possibly reaching the truth. It can be fairly detrimental. For example, a negative person living in the past with blame, which inhibits the present and their future. Or a positive person dismissing someone’s problems by always pointing to some positive outlook.
I personally think an optimistic mindset coupled with realism is a solid way to live — understand what’s happening around you and do all you can to try to achieve positive outcomes. And hope the best comes.
Here’s the thing, if I’m in a bind, I’ll think whatever is necessary to perform my best regardless of accuracy as long as I’m not hurting anybody or being unethical. If that happens to lead to a hyper positive outlook so be it.
For me I find negativity leads to inaction and it just doesn’t help me personally. I agree that some people operate differently and need to use what they have as fuel to get where they wanna be.
I think that one being more valid than the other depends on what kind of person you are and what helps you perform best.
Dude is going to war against the concept of cognitive behavioral therapy and Buddhism.
Seriously though, you should be realistic about expectations but being negative is totally different. If you focus on the negative, you never see the opportunity.
Acceptance, regardless of what comes, doesn’t mean you enjoy or like what happened, it just is and it’s gone. On to the next opportunity.
Define valid?
Positivity generally encourages forward momentum.
And while I don’t dispute there are plenty of things to be negative about in the world dwelling on them is generally not very productive. I have been there, I have done that, it only ever made things worse for me.
Or to put it another way you have 2 choices on how to approach the world.
You can make the most of your life and the chances in it, or you can not.
I know which one makes me happier.
It’s not more valid, it’s more productive.
Being negative puts in a negative state of mind, and keeps you from being at your best. Whether it’s realistic or not is another debate entirely, but being optimistic is a proven way to improve your morale and that of people around you.
I agree, I think this has caused people to be less honest and even viewing honesty as a bad thing.
There is a time and a place to say things, and you don’t need to be brutally honest unnecessarily. But, having a negative opinion is perfectly fine and necessary in a lot of cases. People need to understand that there are pros and cons to all situations, if someone else sees a con you can’t just be angry at them for seeing the con.
Only thinking about positives is stupidly ignorant, and immature. You’ll never be making informed decisions if you don’t consider the negatives.
The problem with this viewpoint that you have here is that it runs a foul of a rather basic philosophy.
The philosophy says that being a part of providing solutions and improvements as far as superior, then pointing out failures and shortcomings.
Those who approach things with positivity tend to be doing the former. Those who approach things with negativity tend to be doing the latter, that’s obviously not universally true – heck is there anything that universally true?
If you’re negative, you’re less likely to be productive. We can’t have that now can we?
general positivity and toxic positivity are not the same thing and you are conflating the two