The final principle of successful optimists is easy to say and hard to do. It is simply this: try to kick out your cynicism. It’s hard to do because cynicism has become embedded in our society and is even held up as wisdom. But there is nothing wise, or even likeable […]
Optimism
8 posts
The legendary computer engineer Howard H. Aitken once advised, “Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats.” Successful optimists understand that the beginning of many endeavours involves being told you’re mad, bad and dangerous to know. More […]
I am often asked to denounce religion. At about a third of the public talks I give, someone will suggest that the root cause of most of our problems is irrational religious belief – and will invite me to agree with them. My reply however is always the same: that […]
I once had the lucky opportunity to observe two rival firms trying to do the same thing; namely working out how to integrate a particular enhancement made possible by new technology into their (competing) products. Both companies set up engineering teams. Both failed. Company A disbanded their team and grumbled […]
Many people are convinced they are someone else. In fact all of us at some point or another have told ourselves that we’re not really the miserable, grumpy, cynical, obstructive or unreasonable person we appear to be it’s just that, right now, there are some extenuating circumstances. Your boss is […]
Parents often comment on the startling creativity of their children. Pablo Picasso famously remarked, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one once we grow up.” I’ll go further. Every child is an artist, yes, but also a scientist, engineer and entrepreneur too. Young children benefit […]
The philosopher Daniel Dennett says that one of the occupational hazards of being a philosopher is that you get asked difficult questions at parties. Being solicited over drinks for free consultancy is, of course, commonplace. If you’re a doctor you’ll be asked to pass opinion on a dodgy knee. Plumbers […]
Last Sunday Mark Stevenson (Tweets), author of ‘An Optimist’s tour of the future’ gave a super talk on optimism at the London Assembly. Due to the fact that everyone loved it, we’re publishing his writing on the principles of optimism every week for the coming eight weeks. This has been […]