But McCloskey has a lot of ground to cover-and a lot of evidence to present. Bourgeois Equality is a big book-nearly 800 pages. McCloskey is a professor of economics, history, english and communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “The world has made spectacular progress in every single measure of human well-being and…almost no one knows about it,” says Pinker.
Today, focusing on the negative news that bombards us daily gives us a distorted view of the world. Pessimism served our cave-dwelling ancestors well because they had to detect threats around every corner. Simply put, we don’t focus on the good because our brains are drawn to the bad. When I sat down with Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, one of Bill Gates’s favorite authors, we talked about the negativity bias. It’s still a big number, but the progress is unlike anything the world has ever seen. Today, about 9 percent of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty. About fifty years ago, half the world lived in extreme poverty. One of the most remarkable statistics that Rosling offers is about global poverty. Life expectancy was about 30 years everywhere in the world. For example, he writes that two hundred years ago, almost everyone on Earth faced disease, malnutrition, starvation, and early death. Rosling puts data into context that’s easy to understand.
Songs about optimism download#
This is the book that Gates says is ‘pretty fundamental.’ In 2018, he offered a free digital download to anyone who graduated from college. Here is a short list of books that will get you started. Bill Gates has already read most of them. In recent years, a growing category of books written by ‘New Optimists’ of scholars, thinkers and leaders combine history, economics and science to broaden our perspective of world events. Younger, aspiring leaders don’t have to wait until they turn into elder statespeople to gain perspective. “Those who think the past is better have not read enough history.” But really, if you're a student of history, when else would you rather be alive? Now is the best time,” Elon Musk said recently. “A lot of times people are quite negative about the present. Listening to a personally nostalgic song or even simply reading the song’s lyrics can boost your mood, feeling of connection to others, self-esteem, and optimism.Great leaders are also students of history, which gives them the fuel to pursue innovation. Choose a few songs that leave you feeling nostalgic. We all have songs that can leave us feeling sentimental about the past. Common events that make us feel nostalgic are those that connect us to people, a special place, or a special time in our lives. Spending as little as five minutes thinking and writing about a pleasant memory can improve your mood and optimism for the future. These may involve activities with others, rest, and even simple, everyday pleasures such as enjoying the weather. Think of ways that you can create a pleasurable experience tomorrow. This can help rid you of a bad mood, emotional exhaustion, and pessimistic thinking at the end of a long day. Choose one and allow yourself to experience everything you feel about it for five minutes. Every evening, rather than thinking of what needs to be done the next day, focus instead on three things about tomorrow you are looking forward to. This exercise can improve your mood and your future outlook, especially for worriers. After you’ve done that, spend five minutes imagining this best possible future as vividly as you can. Imagine that everything works out for the best. Spend about 15 minutes thinking of and writing about having the best possible circumstances in your future. Below are five simple ways you can boost your optimism. Optimism can be enhanced by fairly simple means. No wonder optimists feel they have something to smile about. Perhaps viewing the future as positive and ourselves as capable of creating those positive outcomes helps us take the steps that lead to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.Īs if that isn’t good enough, optimism also builds our resilience against life stress and improves our health. In itself, this is fundamental to our well-being.
When we’re optimistic, not only do we believe that the future is bright, but we have no trouble thinking of specific things to look forward to. Optimism also is one of the characteristics most highly related to life satisfaction.
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