In this episode we discuss the notion of toxic positivity, manifesting through such statements as: "everything happens for a reason," "somebody always has it worse, "good vibes only," etc. Is this obsessively positive perspective predicated on a false understanding of the self? Is it willfully neglectful of social conditions? Does it obstruct communal orientation and identification? Main episode begins at 18:13.

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Text: Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich (New York, NY: Penguin Classics, 1960), 157