cohu's blog

Mal wieder haben wir Pessimisten den richtigen Riecher gehabt – diesmal, wenn es um unsere Vorahnung geht, vermutlich recht bald und dann auch noch eines  unangenehmen und wenig heldenhaften Todes zu sterben. Dies zumindest ergibt eine an annähernd 1000 Holländern durchgeführte Studie, von der uns die NYT berichtet:

"Subjects were ranked in quartiles as pessimistic or optimistic on the basis of their reactions to statements like, “I still have positive expectations concerning my future” and, “I often feel that life is full of promises.”

Dr. Giltay and his colleagues found that subjects with the highest level of optimism were 45 percent less likely than those with the highest level of pessimism to die of all causes during the study. (…)  prevention of cardiovascular mortality accounted for nearly half of the protective effects of optimism."

Mich erfüllt das, im Gegensatz zum Autor des Artikels, nicht mit Sorge, bin ich doch schon immer der Meinung gewesen, das Recht haben wichtiger ist als lang leben. Im Zweifel gilt die Devise: Depressiver Realismus!

"Some studies have shown (…) that depressed people appear to have a more realistic perception of their importance, reputation, locus of control, and abilities. People without depression are more likely to have inflated self-images and look at the world through rose-colored glasses." (Wikipedia)

Ein lustiger Artikel über Depressive Realism findet sich auch im Guardian:

"Depressed people turn out to be less prone to these errors of thinking. One of Gilbert’s conclusions is that if we experienced the world as it truly is, we wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. And, of course, some seriously depressed people can’t. So maybe they’re the best people to be running the world, managing our national finances, assessing the threat from climate change, determining foreign policy – as opposed to upbeat politicians, who pride themselves on their optimistic (and therefore delusional) visions of a bright new future. But they can’t. Because they’re in bed. It’s a pretty hopeless situation, really."

Wem das nicht reicht, der kann es ja mal mit Nummer 12 probieren.