Bright-Sided

Barbara Ehrenreich talked about her book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America (Metropolitan Books; October 13, 2009). The former New York Times columnist sets out to debunk the whole notion that positive thinking has a positive effect on actions and outcomes. Her mission began when told by doctors that her anger at having cancer was making it worse - she needed to think positively. She has found positive thinking to be pervasive and criticized it as delusional and sometimes cruel. Ms. Ehrenreich says the positive thinking phenomenon has been most destructive in the business community, giving examples such as managers who saw the housing market as a bubble being dismissed for negativity. Ms. Ehrenreich did not recommend an equally delusional negativity, but realism. She responded to questions from members of the audience. close