The Power Of Positive Thinking (aka The Placebo Effect)

Now before you go thinking that i'm going to be all negative on the subject, i'll start by saying that i think the placebo effect is highly underrated. If someone was to tell you that in a reasonable number of cases a sugar pill could be as effective in treating illnesses as an expensive medication you'd be pretty impressed. You might even ask why we don't try to treat everything with sugar pills instead of spending lots of money on pharmaceuticals. Alas the placebo per se doesn't do anything and the effect relies on the patient believing the sugar pill will improve their condition, therein lies the link to positive thinking.

I suspect that most of the cynicism about 'positive thinking' is based on the screeds of pseudo-scientific books which propose a variety of far-fetched mechanisms for how it works from auras, to spirits or even quantum mechanics. Some of these mechanisms are occasionally covered in a thin veneer of real science (yes, there is a zero point field) but invariably the mechanism cannot be scientifically proven (there is no hard evidence to indicate that people can manipulate the zero point field with their thoughts). On the other hand there are a number of scientifically proven theories which can shed some light on the benefits of thinking positively.

Psychological - This one is obvious, if you frame everything in a positive light you will be happier; threats become opportunities, something going wrong becomes a chance to do something different. It doesn't take a genius to see that if you choose to perceive things in a positive way you will feel more positively about things, it's simple tautology (circular logic). Furthermore there are a number of cognitive biases which are likely to amplify the feeling that if you think good thoughts, good things happen. The most relevant in this case is Confirmation Bias; "the tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions.". In other words if you believe something, you are more likely to accept evidence that agrees with your belief and ignore evidence which does not agree with your belief. So if you think positively and believe it makes your life better, you will be more inclined to notice and remember positive things that happen and dismiss any negative things that happen. Now if you want to make optimal decisions or become a being of pure reason and logic, tautology and cognitive bias are to be avoided. On the other hand if you want to be happy, thinking positively is bound to help.

Physiological - Thinking comes from the brain, the brain controls a lot of the processes in the rest of the body, so there could be a link between positive thinking and physical wellbeing. Please don't ask me to dig up the research, but there is ample evidence linking mental state with physiological effects. One example is that if you are stressed (a mental state), your brain triggers your adrenal gland to release cortisol (a physiological response). Now in some ways cortisol is great; in the short term it helps you metabolise protein, carbohydrates and fat, which is pretty useful if you are stressed because you are being chased by a tiger. On the other hand in the long term it suppresses your imune system and slows bone growth, both of which are less than ideal. I don't propose that we fully understand how mental state effects physiology. However given that your brain regulates a large number of hormones and systems, from an evolutionary standpoint there is a good chance that being happy and relaxed is better for you than being depressed and stressed.

Interpersonal - So the above covers why thinking positively can be beneficial to your mental state and physical wellbeing, but if it doesn't translate beyond you as an individual then it is borderline delusion. Fortunately there is scientific evidence which supports emotions - and hence positive thinking - being contagious between people. Let's try an experiment; the next time you are outside, smile at a random person. Nine times out of ten they will smile back, unless of course they are in a really shitty mood. While that of itself is quite impressive, what is even more impressive is that by the mere action of smiling that person will feel slightly happier. This reciprocation is caused by mirror neurons in the brain, you don't just mirror movements but emotions as well. There is no need to invoke spirits or psychics or quantum mechanics, it is simply neurobiology. Humans are social creatures and have been long before the advent of language, it makes sense that our ancestors would have had an evolutionary advantage if they could understand and influence other individuals. So if you think positively and are therefore happier, that happiness/positivity is likely to rub off on people you meet, which will result in better outcomes from those interactions.

The three paragraphs above are my best attempt at remembering and summarising the science at 3am after a few beers. The examples are limited, the explanations imperfect and they are distinctly lacking in citations. If you would like more detailed information on anything above, or suggested reading, please leave a comment.

Conclusion - Do i think that peoples positive vibes somehow propagate out through the zero point energy field and change the universe? Or that you can manifest a new Lexus by thinking positive? Hell no. On the other hand i do think that there is good scientific evidence for why people with a positive outlook on life are happier, healthier and have better relationships.


Some related Wikipedia links:
The Placebo Effect
Physiological Effects Of Cortisol
Tautology
List of Cognitive Biases
Mirror Neurons

2011 Arbitrary Dividing Point In Time Resolutions

I decided to change a couple of things this year compared to 2010. Firstly I have restricted myself to 3 resolutions, the 7 last year were probably a bit much and diluted my focus. Also as i mentioned in my 2010 Summary, i think focusing on daily habits that will enable future goals will be more successful than listing longer term abstract goals that might change or disappear.

The main reason for posting these online is so that i am accountable and i will be trying to tweet daily updates on the success or failure of the above with an #ADPITR hashtag. If you notice that i fail to tweet or fail any of the above resolutions please kick my ass!


Here are my Arbitrary Dividing Point in Time Resolutions for 2011:

1. Mind - Learn Ruby On Rails Every Day
About half way through last year i started learning the Ruby On Rails framework. While i have completed a couple of books and Rails For Zombies i don't think i have retained much of what i learned as i haven't been using it regularly. I have stopped learning for weeks (occasionally months) at a time and during those breaks i'm sure i forgot a lot. So by making sure i learn/use RoR daily, i should hopefully learn and retain more. I considered putting a time requirement on this resolution, but while it would be nice to do 2-4 hours of programming every day, i suspect just by thinking/reading about it every day, i should achieve the desired effect.

The flip side of this is that i need to plan what i am going to learn better. Last year i ended up on some pretty epic tangents; learning about version control (Git), setting up servers (Fedora) and lots of other somewhat related things (RVM, Vagrant, Amazon Web Services etc). While these tangents were interesting and potentially useful in the future, they aren't strictly relevant now. To start with i need to learn more about Ruby (Why's [Poignant] Guide To Ruby, Programming Ruby etc), refresh what i know about Rails (re-read Head First Rails and Agile Web Development With Rails) and deploy an actual application.

2. Body - Don't Drink Calories
One of the first pieces of advice in The 4-Hour Body is not to drink calories and it tends to be the foundation of a lot of other diets too. While it might seem a relatively easy resolution, it is bound to cut out a lot of calories from my diet (Red Bull, Fruit Juice, Beer and Wine) and i can always add other restrictions to it throughout the year if it gets too easy. On the upside it means that i will still be able to drink nice black coffee along with plenty of water and herbal tea. On the downside it means that i will have to give up alcohol as even spirits contain calories.

Interestingly this was the last resolution i decided on and only came about due to the next resolution.

3. Spirit - Write 750 Words Every Day
I think this will be my favourite resolution, it kind of combines last years Moleskine and blog writing with an awesome website (750Words) and Morning Pages. "Morning what?" you might ask, the best summary is from the 750Words About page:

Morning pages are three pages of writing done every day, typically encouraged to be in "long hand", typically done in the morning, that can be about anything and everything that comes into your head. It's about getting it all out of your head, and is not supposed to be edited or censored in any way. The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day.

Seeing as my handwriting sucks and i normally only manage around 50 words per page in my Moleskine, i'm glad that 750Words is there to save me time and money.

So far i have done two days (did a practice run yesterday) and it has been useful. I had decided on resolutions 1 and 3 over a week ago and i though i should have a third. In my morning pages today not only did i spot the potential for a Mind, Body & Spirit link but they also helped me narrow down and chose resolution 2. So far both sessions have taken just under 30 minutes each and it seems like a worthwhile investment in time.

The main reason for this resolution is coming across 750Words.com, however it is so awesome it deserves a post all of it's own!