Barbara Ehrenreich - Smile or Die

Acclaimed journalist, author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich explores the darker side of positive thinking.

Watch the RSA Animate of this talk: http://youtu.be/u5um8QWWRvo

• Category

  Education

[Sylvia Gerssen]

We're living on a planet where all exist within polarity,it's kind of naive to think that positive thinking will come without consequences. + and - are in 1 package whether we like it or not, not with a ton of LOA we can change that. We can always decide to not participate within feeling positive or negative,since feelings are unstable and in separation with our physical reality. We can be happy about our new car, while our reality is a world crisis and millions of people without homes period.

[Martijn de Graaf]

yea, we are creating the Earth so ugly, we don't want to look at it, to face the consequences of our where abouts. Is positive thinking waiting for doomsday in fact...!

[ajadwis]

I see what she is saying but I have to say there is some truth to the opposing point of view. I once had a crisis happen- nothing as bad as cancer but something pretty bad nevertheless- and it DID make me a bit of a better person. I did feel I gained a small measure of enlightenment from it.

[Yuri muckraker]

for the q and a they should've let her just answer the questions immediately then gone to the next

[PatriciaStockton]

I fought advanced stage three colon cancer and had so much of my insides cut out in an effort to save my life. Three weeks after my emergency surgery our only child was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and was rushed by ambulance to UCDavis Medical Center because the ER doctors at the hospital he went to, when he had passed out one day, said he would not survive the trip without this life support. Ten months later my husband died -- NO RIBBONS HERE -- just REALITY!!

[HumorAdvantage]

this poor woman is miserable

[Kevin Russell]

You really didn't listen to the talk did you? Hers is a reaction to idiots like Seligman.

[Kevin Russell]

Gee the nutters are out in force aren't they? Why don't you just listen to what it is she has to say which is this: Positive thinking is a load of sh*t. It's worse than useless, it can be harmful if it stops people facing up to reality. And Seligman is a crank. He's like a latter day Sun Myung Moon or Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi.

[Kevin Russell]

Polarity? Time to stop taking the lysergic acid with breakfast. Or do you just like big unfamiliar words and dropping them into conversations. Pffffft

[OldWorldNewAge]

Amen, 100% True! Much of the south is under this positive thinking tyranny right now, and has been since 9-11. Total mindcontrol, total lies.

[macmarine]

Barbara ... thank you so much! I couldn't agree more!

[William Robinson]

Fabulous!!