1/6/2023 0 Comments Optimism bias definition![]() ![]() To test this, I decided to record the brain activity of volunteers while they imagined future events – not events on the scale of 9/11, but events in their everyday lives – and compare those results with the pattern I observed when the same individuals recalled past events. As a result, memory also ends up being a reconstructive process, and occasionally, details are deleted and others inserted. It is designed to flexibly construct future scenarios in our minds. The system is not designed to perfectly replay past events, the researchers claimed. Rather, the core function of the memory system could in fact be to imagine the future – to enable us to prepare for what has yet to come. Scientists who study memory proposed an intriguing answer: memories are susceptible to inaccuracies partly because the neural system responsible for remembering episodes from our past might not have evolved for memory alone. Where did these mistakes in memory come from? They were also poor at remembering details of the event, such as the names of the airline carriers. A survey conducted around the country showed that 11 months after the attacks, individuals' recollections of their experience that day were consistent with their initial accounts (given in September 2011) only 63% of the time. I was intrigued by the fact that people felt their memories were as accurate as a videotape, while often they were filled with errors. After living through 9/11, in New York City, I had set out to investigate people's memories of the terrorist attacks. The reality is that I stumbled onto the brain's innate optimism by accident. I would have liked to tell you that my work on optimism grew out of a keen interest in the positive side of human nature. They are constantly being shaped by the future. What it shows could fuel a revolution in psychology, as the field comes to grips with accumulating evidence that our brains aren't just stamped by the past. The science of optimism, once scorned as an intellectually suspect province of pep rallies and smiley faces, is opening a new window on the workings of human consciousness. In fact, a growing body of scientific evidence points to the conclusion that optimism may be hardwired by evolution into the human brain. A study of cancer patients revealed that pessimistic patients under 60 were more likely to die within eight months than non-pessimistic patients of the same initial health, status and age. Researchers studying heart-disease patients found that optimists were more likely than non-optimistic patients to take vitamins, eat low-fat diets and exercise, thereby reducing their overall coronary risk. ![]() Hope keeps our minds at ease, lowers stress and improves physical health. And although they are not less likely to divorce, they are more likely to remarry – an act that is, as Samuel Johnson wrote, the triumph of hope over experience.Įven if that better future is often an illusion, optimism has clear benefits in the present. Economists at Duke University found that optimists even save more. Optimists in general work longer hours and tend to earn more. ![]() Such faith helps motivate us to pursue our goals. ![]() To make progress, we need to be able to imagine alternative realities – better ones – and we need to believe that we can achieve them. Without optimism, our ancestors might never have ventured far from their tribes and we might all be cave dwellers, still huddled together and dreaming of light and heat. But the bias also protects and inspires us: it keeps us moving forward rather than to the nearest high-rise ledge. Overly positive assumptions can lead to disastrous miscalculations – make us less likely to get health checkups, apply sunscreen or open a savings account, and more likely to bet the farm on a bad investment. A survey conducted in 2007 found that while 70% thought families in general were less successful than in their parents' day, 76% of respondents were optimistic about the future of their own family. But private optimism, about our personal future, remains incredibly resilient. Collectively we can grow pessimistic – about the direction of our country or the ability of our leaders to improve education and reduce crime. You might expect optimism to erode under the tide of news about violent conflicts, high unemployment, tornadoes and floods and all the threats and failures that shape human life. ![]()
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