“Positive thinking” comes in many forms: New Thought, the prosperity gospel, manifestation teaching, self-help guides, and more. It’s hard to argue with thinking positive thoughts! But when positive thoughts become a substitute for curiosity and inquiry about real challenges, positive thinking can lead us away from real solutions. In this episode, I explore my own encounters with the world of positive thinking and how facing reality has actually given me more hope.
 
 Footnotes:

• More about Mary Baker Eddy
• More about Ernest Holmes and The Science of Mind
• More about Norman Vincent Peale* The Power of Positive Thinking
• Mary Kay Ash on YouTube
• Confidence Culture by Shani Orgad and Rosalind Gill
• Rhonda Byrne on YouTube
• “Farm-To-Table: Reciprocity in Every Seam” (Christy Dawn ad)
• “Manifestation, eugenics, and flower oil” by Meg Conley
• Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
• At The Existentialist Cafe by Sarah Bakewell
• Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit

 
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