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- Hacker News
- Pessimists are going to read this and call BSby anself
- This is not what the best study at hand has found based on the most extensive human study! Check out The Longevity Project [0][1]! Optimistic people don't pay much attention to symptoms!by nikolay
- My father is 84 and is among the most cantakerous people ever born. It's a sample size of 1, but he is a counter example since he's never had a single moment of optimism is his entire life!by lisbbb
- > For men in NAS, higher baseline optimism levels were similarly related to longer life span (Table 1, NAS; P trend = 0.002). After adjusting for demographics, baseline health conditions, and depression, compared to the least optimistic men, those in the highest quintile had 10.9% (95% CI: 1.3%, 21.5%) longer life span.
Notably absent: control by wealth.
by DenisM - It makes sense to me, as the article also points out, being more optimistic might indicate lower levels of stress. And (prolonged) stress has been known for a long time to be detrimental to health.by Insanity
- If anyone wishes to use this study as a catalyst to shift one’s attitude, then I highly recommend dropping the dopaminergic doomloop apps like Reddit/Bluesky/X/tiktok/IG.
Your life will be better for it. Snapchat can stay…for reasons.
by unionjack22 - I suspect optimism is learned to some extent. Past experiences and outcomes shape your optimism, because it skews your bias.
People who had good things happen and got lucky get more optimistic as that's their experience.
If true, it might be that good genetics and environment gives you exceptional longevity, and also increases your chances of good outcomes at every step of your life which in turn make you an optimist.
Off course, I'd love to believe it's your mindset that affects outcomes, as it would give you control over your destiny, but it's precisely because that truth is so tempting that I'm extra skeptical of it.
by didibus - Everything I've learned from psychology (and by this I mean watching psychology lectures from Yale and Stanford on youtube and reading the associated textbooks) makes me confident that I will have a short and unhappy life.
Dr Bloom spoke about how your overall mood during college is a good predictor for how happy you'll be as a person throughout your life. He talked about the optimum time to get married is 26. He elucidated the idea of your prefrontal cortex solidifying around 25, making personality changes MUCH more difficult.
Dr Sopolsky spoke about biological markers that may affect human behavior - both inherited and environmentally influenced.
At 35 I am starting to suspect that I may be on the spectrum ( I kinda expected some adult to tell me this as a child, if it's true ).
The males on my fathers side (with the exception of my uncle) do not make it past 67.
My mothers side has inter-generational trauma that I know i've inherited avoidant behaviors that limit my social ability.
So great news.
by fusslo