The Type-A crusades

[m_the0ry]

There is an undeniable trend in western culture applying a constant pressure: the pressure to be anything but a cynic. Critics are silenced, the depressed are suppressed, and nay-sayers have their person defamed. Differentiating between assertive confidence, optimism and anti-cynicism is a matter of semantics at the best. How healthy is this obsession with anti-cynicism? What is the effect of this obsession when it manifests itself in a whole culture?

The fact is the benefits are outweighed by the consequences.

To give some reference to this claim we must look outside of American culture to somewhere else: Japan. Here a culture which does not celebrate optimism and confidence nearly as much as humility and practical criticism is demonstrating that such a culture paradigm bears many fruits of success. The same can be said of China or Sweden.

American obsession with confidence and optimism has deteriorated both the culture and the state. Andrew Card, resigned chief-of-staff for the Bush administration, said in an interview when asked about the state of the capital

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"There are so many Type-A personalities working at the white house... they're all overly confident."

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A recent entry into the blogosphere that I stumbled upon highlights the disastrous effects of excessively-positive thinking. Assumptions, oversights, and miscalculations. All of them stemming from The Western Delusion; being positive is not only imperative, deny being wrong at all costs and denounce negativity at every turn.

Why does this persist? Does it stem from a corporate-centric economy that healthily rewards the assertive and confident? Or is it simply an ego complex extended existing on a societal scale?

[PairTheBoard]

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humility and practical criticism

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That doesn't sound like cynicism to me. More like a healthy balance between cynicism and over confidence. I'd throw in a light dose of optimism myself. I can't help but seeing things having gotten generally better over time. And cynicism seems like too heavy a weight on its side.

PairTheBoard

[arahant]

I should think about this more, but I'll throw out some quick impressions.

I've spent a lot of my life in risk management, for some very prominent companies, and it has always been a battle. There are probably a few factors...
First of all, for a perfectionist like me, the whole world looks like a mess. Whenever I see a project of any sort, the first thing I notice are the 100 things that are wrong with it. It amazes me sometimes that we can get anything done, but somehow, we move forward despite the huge imperfections. Some people have learned this better than I have, and have therefore learned that the best way forward is just to ignore the imperfections and focus on the positive.
Secondly, people at the top are in charge of getting something done, and the people being led want to see advancement. Fixing levees, for example, is a pretty boring accomplishment...all you can say is "hey look...no floods AGAIN!". Accomplishments, even if they are really really bad ones, are at least tangible. Look at all the people who think Iraq is fine and dandy...I don't see how we could have done worse there, but lots of people look at it and approve.

Crap...I've drifted off course...anyway, I'll return later [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]