Although the belief in a better future is often an illusion, optimism has clear benefits in the present. Hope keeps our minds at ease, lowers stress, and improves physical health. This is probably the most surprising benefit of optimism. All else being equal, optimists are healthier and live longer. It is not just that healthy people are more optimistic, but optimism can enhance health. Expecting our future to be good reduces stress and anxiety, which is good for our health. Researchers studying heart attack patients have found that optimists were more likely than nonoptimistic patients to take vitamins, eat low-fat diets, and exercise, thereby reducing their overall coronary risk. A study of cancer patients revealed that pessimistic patients under the age of 60 were more likely to die within eight months than nonpessimistic patients of the same initial health, status, and age.

Tali Sharot in The Science Of Optimism, cited by Maria Popova in  Brain Pickings

I also believe that optimists have better sex. Just saying.

Source: brainpickings.org

Notes

  1. jbeck4431 reblogged this from stoweboyd
  2. lights-in-the-sky reblogged this from stoweboyd
  3. mostfuckedupbitchonearth reblogged this from stoweboyd
  4. thatbritishgirlwiththedresses reblogged this from stoweboyd
  5. teamwelsh5 reblogged this from wildcat2030
  6. ajilivizion reblogged this from stoweboyd
  7. niraxxx reblogged this from wildcat2030
  8. cestrien reblogged this from wildcat2030
  9. dionnerobertson123 reblogged this from stoweboyd
  10. cab1729 reblogged this from stoweboyd
  11. achildofsundays reblogged this from wildcat2030
  12. keithridesbikes reblogged this from stoweboyd
  13. jerriann reblogged this from underpaidgenius
  14. vanillabuds reblogged this from wildcat2030
  15. brachiocephalic reblogged this from wildcat2030
  16. wildcat2030 reblogged this from underpaidgenius
  17. davidaedwards reblogged this from stoweboyd
  18. underpaidgenius reblogged this from stoweboyd
  19. stoweboyd posted this

← Previous Post Next Post →

About

Web anthropologist, futurist, author. My focus is the future, and the tectonic forces pushing business, media, and society into an unclear and accelerating future. (More.)

Working on longer format projects, Sign up for the newsletter.

GigaOM Research analyst and curator.



Also writing beaconstreets.com.

Contact me. or ask me a question.



My Vizify profile.

Socialogy

  • Brian Solis | Brian and I debunk big data, and Brian makes the case for empathy.

  • Deb Lavoy | Deb is dubious about management's inclinations, and says, 'Just because you are networked doesn’t mean it necessarily helps you understand, or realize your needs more effectively.'

  • John Hagel | John offers up some great insights, like the fact that passion is lower the larger that businesses get.

  • Euan Semple | A chat with my old pal, and the author of Organizations Don't Tweet, People Do

  • Will McInnes | The author of Culture Shock and managing director of Nixon/McInnes

  • Jennifer Magnolfi | An interview with the woman who said, 'Work is not a place you go, it's a thing you do'.

  • Hot Now

  • What Drives Us? | A draft chapter of my book, discussing motivations, Maslow's hierarchy, and fluidarity.

  • Socialogy: Interview With John Hagel | I Speak with Joh Hagel about the innovation at the edge.

  • Complex organisation arises from webs of interaction among causal factors | So, it turns out that DNA is, in fact, a great metaphor for business culture, but only after you realize that DNA is not a few hundred off-on switches, but instead a universe of unknowable complexities, that we can interact with, and understand at some abstract cartoonish level, but not control, and never fully comprehend.

  • Bitcoin May Be the Global Economy’s Last Safe Haven | Paul Ford

  • Innovators Get Better With Age | Companies make a mistake by relying too much on the innoations of the young, because Nobel laureats don't come into their prime until their 50s.

  • Oldie

  • Infodemics | 2009 | Passing incomplete or inaccurate information about some risk event can make people take actions that increase the damage of the event itself.