The Positivity Fallacy, simply stated:
Surround yourself only with positive people if you want to be successful.
It’s a big hit on Twitter! Tweeted and re-tweeted in all kinds of ways, by influential people, who are imitated by nameless thousands of wannabes.
Trouble is, they’re not just wrong, they’re doing the work of the Devil. And I am literally talking about the guy with the horns and the pitchfork. The guy who, if you believe what you learned in Catechism or Sunday School, wants the world to be considerably worse than it is. Because the Positivity Fallacy, followed by enough people, will make the world less than it ever was.
The Top Ten reasons that is a lie of the devil:
(10) It gives you a lopsided view of the world.
(9) Some of those negative people NEED you.
(8) Some of those negative people are your CUSTOMERS.
(7) Most of those negative people won’t stay that way.
(6) All of those negative people know something you don’t.
(5) Some of those positive people have the same motivations you have.
(4) Some of those positive people are your COMPETITION.
(3) Most of those positive people are one unhappy event away from falling off the wagon.
(2) All of those positive people are feeding each other.
(1) You have consciously decided that your personal “success” is all that matters.
And the Number Zero Answer:
(0) Your “success” is not guaranteed by the imitation of anybody.
Hey, come on. What IS success, anyway? If you think it’s about having more money, more stuff, than anyone else, then you’re vulnerable to this thinking. Because the teaching of this doctrine is appealing to our greed, our need to accumulate stuff. And if you’re busy accumulating stuff, you don’t want anyone in the way who can rain on your parade.
But if success means something else – if (for instance) it means “leaving a better world than the one you entered” – you can’t think this way. Your mission on Earth is to better the lives of others. Not just the other “positive” ones. EVERYONE who blunders into your sphere of influence. Yeah, EVERYONE. So whaddaya gonna do? Better their lives, or force ‘em out of your sphere?
Somebody tell the Twitter influencers to get this through their heads!
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June 7, 2009 at 12:08 am
Man that is a radical statement too make that seems pretty all inclusive, seems to cover every one.
So it leaves one with the following questions
You have me a little confused, are you saying we should build a life surrounded by only negative people.
Would your point be on number eight that you should build your business with people who are negative about your business.
Is your point on number five that it is wrong to surround your self who have the same motivation in life you have.
Is your point in number four, that we should not have friendly competition in business.
Do you think that all postive people in life are all going to collapse when one bad thing happens and we will have no positive people
Do you really feel it is wrong for those who may be postively motivated for the right reason’s to be feeding off each other.
Do you think if someone is postive that all that matters to them is their personal success
Somehow I think your answer would be no to all of the above but when you make such a generalized statement, it leave one to wonder
June 7, 2009 at 2:51 am
From God’s influence to your fingers. Peace and blessings. Hope people listen!
June 7, 2009 at 2:57 am
I just read the other comment, and want to give my opinion. I didn’t read this article as so black and white. My understanding is that we must keep our eyes open and engage the people that cross our paths, both positive and negative, imparting our own positivity into their lives as we do. My understanding is that there is something to learn from everyone and that it will not do to exclude people from our lives simply because we see them as negative.
As a human services person, I see negative people become more positive all the time. There is tremendous joy in that, which is missed if we quickly decide someone is too negative for our world.
And I agree.
June 7, 2009 at 12:41 pm
That’s right – what I wrote is a rant. Engage me on it by all means. LOL I’ll address the questions one at a time.
If I were saying that, I would’ve, you know, actually said it. It’s the people I’m talking about who use the word “only,” not me. I believe in a life where we allow ourselves to touch everyone in our sphere of influence, as I have explicitly stated. They appear not to. And that answers pretty much half of your questions.
I deserve a zinger for that, as it’s not written with enough clarity. So here’s a little more clarity. Some folks want positive people around them, exclusively. No others. And this is because their intent is to accumulate wealth, and they are not to be distracted from this intent. If that is YOUR intent as well, you and I have nothing further to discuss. I’m here to make a better world.
You do indicate “for the right reasons,” and I’ll give you props for that not knowing your precise motivations. But you must admit there are perhaps thousands of influential people on Twitter primarily driven by the accumulation of wealth. These are the people who are, to me, doing the work of Old Scratch. Remember, it’s not the existence of positive people I oppose. Ask around: you’ll find many people will say I’m not always a skeptic myself. What I oppose – once again – is the advice that we surround ourselves with positive people to the exclusion of others. THAT is something I don’t believe I can state more clearly.
Not at all. I am saying that those doing the Devil’s work are one lost-time injury, one death in the family, one bad business deal away from the collapse of their world order. For most that won’t happen. But it could.
Actually, no it doesn’t. My statements are not generalized; they are highly specific. The only thing I don’t do is NAME NAMES. And believe me, I could.
June 7, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I appreciatte your feedback and taking the time to answer my questions.
We all tend to rant, got some rants coming up on my blog. Yet when we rant we need to be sure we stay specific.
Specific is When individuals who are motivated by ________ say “Surround yourslef with positive people.” they may be doing more harm than good.
When we make statements that say Why “surround yourself with positive people” is a lie of the devil. Your right it may be specific but it tends to lump everyone who would make that statement in the same group.
Can’t see much room for gray there, in fact you said yourself you were specific, well that takes the grey out of it.
Reason for my questions
But it is genenralized in it’s formation, just looking for clarity. so thankx for providing it.