optimism – News Stories About optimism - Page 2

Analysis

Oct 21, 2008 10:35 AM CDT

Can Phanatics Cheer Up at Last?

Pessimism a way of life for Phanatics

(Newser) - Optimism doesn’t come easy to Phillies fans. “They feel like dogs that have been kicked too much,” one UPenn professor tells Allen Barra of the Wall Street Journal. The Phillies have won precisely one title in their 125-year history, amid mountains of grim collapses. “Phillies history...

The Perils of Positive Thinking

OPINION

Sep 24, 2008 11:39 AM CDT

The Perils of Positive Thinking

Not just greed, but optimism and can-do led to Wall Street's downfall

(Newser) - “Positive thinking,” the philosophy of self-help books and corporate retreats, has had some negative effects on Wall Street, Barbara Ehrenreich writes in the New York Times. It's popular to blame greed of executives and traders for the current meltdown in the financial markets, but the unbridled optimism and...

We're Down, We're Really Down: Poll

Aug 1, 2008 7:20 AM CDT

We're Down, We're Really Down: Poll

76% of Americans say country is headed in wrong direction

(Newser) - Only 24% of Americans think the country is on the right track in a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll. That number is the lowest since 1980. The other times it has dipped below 30% were during Watergate, the Iran hostage crisis, and the economic slump of 1992. As recently as...

Obama Speech Plays Well With Euro Pundits

OPINION

Jul 25, 2008 12:28 PM CDT

Obama Speech Plays Well With Euro Pundits

Most praise it, with reservations

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s speech in Germany is drawing the full complement of responses in Europe, from glowing to scowling. Here are a few:

He’s “an idealist in the true spirit of the American success story,” writes Gerhard Spohl in Der Spiegel, and aspires to be "something

...

Keep the Hummer:
Save America's Soul

OPINION

Jul 12, 2008 2:00 PM CDT

Keep the Hummer: Save America's Soul

Yes, it's obnoxious; that's why we need it

(Newser) - Sure, the Hummer is more of a "cartoon" than a vehicle, a ridiculously over-the-top gas-guzzling monstrosity. But the unbridled optimism it takes to manufacture it—and to fill up the tank—is what makes it uniquely American, writes Matthew DeBord in the Washington Post. If GM axes it, or,...

Scientists
Find Eternal Sunshine Spot
in Your Mind

Oct 25, 2007 1:04 PM CDT

Scientists Find Eternal Sunshine Spot in Your Mind

Study: Brain section thinks happy thoughts

(Newser) - If you think the glass is half empty, you’re a pessimist—but if you think it’s half full, you have strong activity in your rostral anterior cingulate cortex. That’s the section of the brain, located right behind the eyes, that controls optimism, according to a new study...