[Graeme]

Breaking Murphy's Law

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')his appears at first sight to be one of those irritating 'positive psychology' books that exhort the reader to smile, or whatever, and her/his whole world will quickly come right. However, the book is in fact a great deal more complex than that and its message is quite nuanced.

The author is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Her specialisms lie in the area which explores the relationship between personality and health. She has carried out her research on a wide range of groups in society including HIV positive men, cancer sufferers, and law students.

The essence of the book lies in the investigation into whether optimism is a healthy trait or not.

Given that eighty percent of people are moderately to very optimistic, what does that imply for the daily lives of these people? The author makes it clear that optimism is not simply a positive outlook on life; optimism is also about what one actually does.

This leads the author into what is possibly the most interesting area of the book. Her thesis is that when a pessimist gives up on a task, s/he is conserving resources whereas when the optimist spends time and energy pursuing a goal, s/he is consuming them. It makes sense for the optimist to use up those resources if the payback involves achievement which will ultimately see an increase in resources -- time, energy, finance, friendship, etc. However, if the payback does not come, all that expenditure has been for nothing.

The book ends with sensible advice. Rather than Change Your Thoughts and Your Life Will Follow, the author advocates concentrating on changing one's deeds and she assures us that our thoughts and our attitudes will follow.

[Kristen]

It seems that the same could be said about having depression. If one looks past the shiny slogans and relaxing rhymes they can see what's going on behind the scenes and understand that it truly is sad

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Graeme', '[')b]Breaking Murphy's Law

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he book ends with sensible advice. Rather than Change Your Thoughts and Your Life Will Follow, the author advocates concentrating on changing one's deeds and she assures us that our thoughts and our attitudes will follow.

[NEOPO]

My name is Neo "P" and I despise quacks yet enjoy ducks