What do you think?
Rate this book
The Science of Optimism: Why We're Hard-Wired for Hope
We all like to think of ourselves as rational creatures who smartly prepare for the worst. We watch our backs, weigh the odds, and pack an umbrella when the skies look threatening. But although we take such sensible precautions, we generally expect things to turn out pretty well — often better than they usually do. This belief that the future will probably be much better than the past and present is known as the optimism bias, and most of us have it. Why? Tali Sharot's 'The Science of Optimism' delves into the biological reaction as to why we are hard-wired for hope, exploring the advantages (and disadvantages) of our optimistic nature, as well as what makes people content and why. She delves into fresh research that explores the part of the brain where optimism lives, providing fresh and surprising biological and cultural reasons as to why we all generally expect sunny skies ahead.
48 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2012
19 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 11, 2019
A little short but insightful (and very readable!) tale of the function Optimisms plays in human psychology. It's a quick & enjoyable read and certainly an inspiring one. It will make even stubborn realists rethink their outlook on life.
November 27, 2012
MOSTLY HO-HUM.
"Expectations transform our world"
My favorite story about the persistent optimist v. pessimist conundrum: Is the glass half-full, or is the glass half-empty; comes from comedian Bill Crosby, who tells of his grandmother’s response when, as a young man, he posed that question to her. “Well Bill,” she told him, “That all depends on whether you’re pouring, or whether you’re drinking.”
And that, unfortunately, is a more definitive answer than any offered in Tali Sharot’s TED Book, ‘The Science of Optimism: Why We’re Hard-Wired for Hope. While it’s pleasant to think that we might be hard-wired for optimism, this book seems to leave the answer at a very tentative, ‘might be.’ As for research done, it seemed that the book’s favorite answer was: ‘We see this or that, but we’re don’t quite know why this or that is.’
Recommendation: I don’t quite know why I’d ever recommend this book to anyone. I will, however, recommend that you watch Tali Sharot’s TED Talk, ‘The Optimism bias’ video. It gives you almost the whole book and more, in under 18 minutes.
"It is tempting to speculate that optimism was selected by evolution precisely because, on balance, positive expectations enhance the odds of survival"
TED Book edition on iPad
"Expectations transform our world"
My favorite story about the persistent optimist v. pessimist conundrum: Is the glass half-full, or is the glass half-empty; comes from comedian Bill Crosby, who tells of his grandmother’s response when, as a young man, he posed that question to her. “Well Bill,” she told him, “That all depends on whether you’re pouring, or whether you’re drinking.”
And that, unfortunately, is a more definitive answer than any offered in Tali Sharot’s TED Book, ‘The Science of Optimism: Why We’re Hard-Wired for Hope. While it’s pleasant to think that we might be hard-wired for optimism, this book seems to leave the answer at a very tentative, ‘might be.’ As for research done, it seemed that the book’s favorite answer was: ‘We see this or that, but we’re don’t quite know why this or that is.’
Recommendation: I don’t quite know why I’d ever recommend this book to anyone. I will, however, recommend that you watch Tali Sharot’s TED Talk, ‘The Optimism bias’ video. It gives you almost the whole book and more, in under 18 minutes.
"It is tempting to speculate that optimism was selected by evolution precisely because, on balance, positive expectations enhance the odds of survival"
TED Book edition on iPad
January 5, 2015
Fascinating look into and accessible descriptions of experiments and the potential meanings of their findings related to optimism, health, age, and happiness. The author explains some studies from the field of neuroscience and explains the concepts clearly. I appreciated that she maintained a cautious approach to interpreting study results: neuroscience is a new field and the tools used are giving scientists new data to collect and interpret and scientists are still figuring out what exactly they are looking at. Well written/short read: I started and finished in a single day and left with a better understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of an optimistic bias.
January 11, 2013
Another one of the short, concise TED books, this time giving you the overview of what is being called the Optimism bias. It'll give you some of the latest information about research into this phenomena. Unfortunately I'm not very optimistic at this point of my life; however, the good news according to the research is that it'll get better soon.
Plenty of jumping off points with the notes to let you find more reading material on this subject.
December 13, 2012
Short and informative. Plenty of references for those who want to follow up on the topics.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews