POSITIVE THINKING IS GOOD AS LONG AS IT IS CAUTIOUS
Evolution is a misleading term if it implies optimism. Religious evolution imagines that God is slowly making things better. What the religious mean in their speciest way is that he is making things better for us most of all. Some think it is only about us. Religious evolution can imply either of those which is enough to make it questionable and off-putting. Natural selection which says that the most adaptable will be the survivors or the best equipped to live is a better thing to concentrate on. Selection is only really a metaphor and we don't want to imply that there is any purpose or agency. Maybe we should talk about natural "selection". Let us talk then about that not evolution. It is clearer. But natural "selection" warns that if we cease to be adaptable and we have ceased to be for we are destroying the planet then we will expire and maybe cockroaches will then be the dominant life form on earth. Religious evolution is a dangerous irresponsible doctrine. It is not evolution but looks like it is almost it. It is evolution with a religious twist. Like a trial balance in accounts, if it is out one dollar it may as well be out a million. Natural "selection" is a blind fact and something we have to put up with.
Evolution can be called dog eat dog. That is being blunt. The religious version of evolution declares we should agree this should be the case. It is just an action to be praised by God. The religious evolutionist is more dog eat dog than the scientific evolutionist. They argue it is right while the scientist simply says it happens and that is it.
Religion wants to be able to work out a morality from evolution. Dog eat dog is hardly what we would expect from a morality. But there is a twist. The fundamental component of morality is, "Don't ask for the impossible." It does not follow then we are going to get a morality that we want packed with nice love and respect and fairness. We are just going to work with what we have.
If morality is only about us trying to survive then it amounts to being only about what we feel is right and wrong. It follows that if we feel we want to rob the neighbours in famine time we should. If morality is intrinsically about survival whether fully or partly then it follows that peace is a myth: what we call peace is just a cold war. It would explain why religion is so dangerous as is anything that creates a “We are us and they are them” has to increase the potential for trouble. Religion lies about the survival motive and that makes it so much more dangerous than any force that just that faces the truth. Survival shows why violence is as natural as eating porridge.
Religion then as shown by its treatment of evolution then exemplifies something called toxic positivity. Other examples and offshoots will be talked about.
Ergo
1 "Tomorrow is another day."
2 "It will not kill you so it will make you stronger."
3 "Every dark cloud has a silver lining."
4 "Believe it will get better, trust in God, and it will."
These things are toxic positive thinking.
1 blames you if tomorrow is worse.
2 refuses to admit that you may not get any stronger and may get worse.
3 the dark cloud's silver lining may be too thin.
4 blames your problems on you for not having the right attitude or perhaps not praying right.
People use these sayings to "help" for they are too lazy to help you correctly and they want to feel a virtuous glow for nothing.
People feel better about not helping you enough amid a terrible crisis and these doctrines are to blame. They put pressure on you to pretend that you and your life are in fact much better. This in effect is pressuring you to pretend that they really care. Break free.
We also have to be careful for our brains have an optimism bias built in. If you believe in God then you can blame him for that.
The Tali Sharot and associates experiment from 2012 found that the left interior frontal gryus (IFG) filters out negative information.
They delivered intracranial magnetic stimulation to halt the filter. They learned as a result that the participants were better equipped to assess warning information and negative truths better and process them.
I would add that as nobody is an island, whatever blurs your perception of danger is involving and threatening others too.
Not only that but the brain absorbs beliefs and habits as well that add to the problem. People too often turn the head away to avoid being informed when they don't like the truth.
Some studies show that we already have enough positive thinking to benefit us and trying to interfere with that only wrecks our safety detectors.
So the moral is to watch what your brain is telling you and not let people make its lies worse.
Over-optimism then is to be avoided. It is like a lie that needs more lies. It gets worse and you end up swearing you are doing well or okay when you are in fact at a standstill.
Telling yourself things such as all things have a reason for happening and will turn out good for you at the end is encouraging an already dangerous trait. Plus it is very me me me. If some disaster happens to you you want to to happen for a reason FOR YOU not your neighbour.
Your mind already overdoes the optimism and those faith positions only make it worse. It is overkill.
Part of all that is how you think you can protect yourself by altering your perception of reality. You think by the power of your mind and perception you can block the pain caused by painful truths.
You cannot only do that for a time for truth is not about you. If your eye sees a monster you cannot un-see it. Your perception is an eye too in a sense. You cannot control yourself that much.
Some seem to think they can change the truth by wishful thinking. Or God will change it for them.
You deserve better than thinking you have control over things that you do in fact do not have. We end up finding it hard to manage when the truth comes out and we are in a crisis situation. We have distracted ourselves from the bad side of things and now we cannot deal with them.
