Episode 17: Is Optimism Logical?

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, April outs herself as an optimist and spends a little over 12 minutes justifying her attitude.Episode 17 Show Notes:The American Psychological Association definiton of optimism: https://dictionary.apa.org/optimismOxford Language Dictionary definition of optimism: https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/optimismPsychology Today's article on optimism: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/optimismProfessor Brian Martin's blog post about the value of optimism: https://documents.uow.edu.au/~bmartin/pubs/comments/0701optimism.htmlA good description of the optimism bias: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-optimism-bias-2795031Oingo Boingo's 1983 hit that epitomizes the optimism bias: https://youtu.be/qpjHW4mr6qoA rather long but interesting academic read about the optimism bias: https://taylorlab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/11/2002_When-Predictions-Fail.pdfSome good information about the optimism bias in the Covid1-9 pandemic:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.26001https://www.pcma.org/optimism-bias-downside-positive-thinking-during-covid-19/Books by Suzanne Segerstrom: https://www.amazon.com/Suzanne-C.-Segerstrom/e/B001JP4MKY%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_shareShawn Anchor and "irrational optimism:" https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-advantage/201103/are-you-irrational-optimistA transcript of Matt Ridley discussing his book at the 7th Annual Hayek Lecture at New York's Manhattan Institute: https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/rational-optimist-how-prosperity-evolves-8316.htmlMore good Matt Ridley stuff: https://reason.com/2020/05/03/what-its-like-to-be-a-rational-optimist-in-a-pandemic/Stephanie Caine's beautiful blog post about logical optimism: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/logical-optimism-stephanie-caines/?articleId=6649370011909660675I didn't mention this in the podcast but it's a good read: https://medium.com/swlh/the-rational-case-for-optimism-6bc9a4dcbbc2More potential evidence that being an optimist is good for business: https://hbr.org/2019/03/the-financial-upside-of-being-an-optimist