Arabic movie subtitles, Korean tweets, Russian novels, Chinese websites, English lyrics, and even the war-torn pages of the New York Times — research examining billions of words, shows that these sources — and all human language — skews toward the use of happy words. This Big Data study confirms the 1969 Pollyanna Hypothesis that there is a universal human tendency to “look on and talk about the bright side of life”. (1)
But is there such a side?
Are we logical creatures trying to find happiness in a world full of light? Or are we illogical beings cast in a world full of tears, trying to find laughter when there is only pain?
Is happiness found through positive words? Or can it not be found at all? Can we get rid of death, loss and pain by simply not speaking about such things? Or should we embrace them in order to fully be part of what we call life?
Life is a tragedy. A tragedy full of dead ends. We try to look at its bright side, but only its dark side will set us free. Because at the end of the road, we will understand that there is no road at all…
Think negatively.
Your life will end.
And this is a positive thing?!
I think certain people would definitely profit from remembering that they are going to die more often.
For certain others (myself included) definitely not.