WGBH Forum Network; Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking Undermines America
Description:
Journalist and activist Barbara Ehrenreich explains the perils of the Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.Americans have a singular capacity for glossing over hardships with exhortations to "look on the bright side." The oft-prescribed power of positive thinking is certainly capable of altering our outlooks, but as Ehrenreich argues in her new book, this is not entirely for the better. In fact, it can lead to individual self-blame and institutional disregard for possible negative outcomes (like a national housing crisis). This is Ehrenreich at her provocative best--poking holes in conventional wisdom and faux science, and ending with a call for existential clarity and courage.
