While most of the physics propositions would probably bore my reading audience on Keen, I thought the part about optimism was intriguing and has applications personally and romantically.
Neuroscientist Tali Sharot of University College London studies "the optimism bias": people's tendency to generally overestimate the likelihood of positive events in their lives and underestimate the likelihood of negative ones.In the show, Sharot does an experiment in which she puts a man in a brain scanner, and asks him to rate the likelihood that negative events, such as lung cancer, will happen to him. Then, he is given the true likelihood.
When the actual risks differ from the man's estimates, his frontal lobes light up. But the brain area does a better job of reacting to the discrepancy when the reality is more positive than what he guessed, Sharot said.
This shows how humans are somewhat hardwired to be optimistic. That may be because optimism "tends to have a lot of positive outcomes," Sharot told LiveScience. "Optimistic people tend to live longer, healthier, more successful lives," she said, "and the act of positive thinking can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think you're more likely to get promoted, you're more likely to put in more effort and work long hours," Sharot said.
But this slightly distorted view of the world can also be a weakness — a person might continue to smoke because they don't expect to get lung cancer, for example. Being more realistic is important in some cases, Sharot cautioned.
I have seen this phenomena operate as both as a strength and a weakness with precognitive information as I've sited in a few of my previous blogs: Intuition and Destiny and Choices!
Precognitive information about a romantic relationship or career move can cause a customer to be more motivated, putting more energy into a relationship or longer hours in at work, thus leading to a more loving relationship or a promotion at work. However, precognitive information can also lead them to become lazy or careless.
As Dr. Donna, a fellow Advisor, once remarked: she told a customer that she was secure in her relationship with a man; that they would definitely be together. So the customer mistakenly felt too secure and called the man in question and told him off in colorful metaphors! That action, unfortunately, changed the outcome and the relationship never flourished.
Always take precognitive information in the most positive and action-oriented way you can. Make the best of it or at least, reduce the negatives. Even if your Advisor doesn't remind you to do so, always ask yourself how you can make the most out the information they give you.
Remember to STAY POSITIVE, and realistic!