Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Are there positive effects of negative thinking?

I am often accused of being "negative". In recent days, less and less people seem to tolerate my so-called "negativism" confronting it with "negative" remarks... ironically. As a rule, my "negativism" is a reflection on things that surround me - that is, I speak up my mind, giving, in my opinion, a sober assessment of irregularities that many seem to ignore. Irregularities for me are opportunities for change, either through their direct diversion (targeted action) or indirect moderation of circumstances in which they occur. This makes me think that "positive thinking" is a form of denial, some passive way of living your life, with no desire for change.

I don't see anything wrong with a desire to surround yourself with everything positive, but the positive does not exist without the negative (philosophically speaking, there is no way of knowing positive without an empirical relation to negative). Recognizing and acknowledging the negative for me is as important as trying to find the "silver lining". In parallel with physics, "negative" people are like electrons in constant motion (when such is triggered and desired), whereas "positive" people like protons are stable. While this is just a generalizations, it seems true to me that negative catalyzes dynamic lifestyle and change, where as positive is stabilizing and grounding. Excess of either, due to intrinsic or extrinsic factors, is potentially dangerous, therefore timely recognition of disbalance is important. More positive in life should of course be sought, but not artificially/cognitively created, and of course not an expense of denying the negative.

Another important factor that should not be disregarded is language. In my case, the manifestation of negative is not complaining, rather a somewhat sarcastic expression of the fact that the negative has been noted and will be acted upon. Some may argue that I am "bitching" (whatever their definition of that may be), which may stand true in certain contexts, where I implicate disapproval through a humorous remark, which I believe will find public approval, yet is completely unfair otherwise. I am neither bitching nor complaining about my life or its separate episodes, I am proactively pointing out all-things-negative, which other people should also, perhaps, open their eyes to.

In conclusion, it is important to me that I am accepted "as is", and those who need to remind me about my "negativism" should instead show some empathy and try have a conversation with me on the subject of "why" rather than bluntly labeling me the "biggest bitch" or the "most negative person" they know. F***, ya'll! And you know what, if you disagree that my "negativism" has a -harmless vibe (that oftentimes seems to be ruining the orgasm of positiveness in your cognitively constructed virtual world), try proving me wrong.

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