Summary of Martin E. P. Seligman's Learned Optimism

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview:#1 The father was upset that his newborn daughter did not respond to noise. He was sure she was deaf. The mother explained to him that it was too soon to say anything like that, and that the baby’s eyes hadn’t yet developed enough to focus on anything.

#2 The difference between optimists and pessimists is how they view bad events. Pessimists believe that bad events will last a long time, are their own fault, and believe that they can never overcome them. Optimists believe that defeat is not their fault, and that circumstances, bad luck, or other people are to blame.

#3 The core of pessimism is helplessness, which is the state of affairs in which nothing you choose affects what happens to you. Personal control is the ability to change things by your voluntary actions, whereas helplessness is the state of affairs in which nothing you choose affects what happens to you.

#4 If we are constantly pessimistic, we will be more likely to get sick, accomplish less than our potential, and graduate less than we should. We will also believe that our misfortunes are our own fault, which will make us feel even worse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669350798

IRB Media

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Insights on Martin E. P. Seligman's Learned Optimism

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The father was upset that his newborn daughter did not respond to noise. He was sure she was deaf. The mother explained to him that it was too soon to say anything like that, and that the baby’s eyes hadn’t yet developed enough to focus on anything.

#2

The difference between optimists and pessimists is how they view bad events. Pessimists believe that bad events will last a long time, are their own fault, and believe that they can never overcome them. Optimists believe that defeat is not their fault, and that circumstances, bad luck, or other people are to blame.

#3

The core of pessimism is helplessness, which is the state of affairs in which nothing you choose affects what happens to you. Personal control is the ability to change things by your voluntary actions, whereas helplessness is the state of affairs in which nothing you choose affects what happens to you.

#4

If we are constantly pessimistic, we will be more likely to get sick, accomplish less than our potential, and graduate less than we should. We will also believe that our misfortunes are our own fault, which will make us feel even worse.

#5

People can choose the way they think, and their habits of thinking can affect their lives greatly. The most significant finding in psychology in the last 20 years is that people can change their minds, and their actions can be explained by self-direction rather than outside forces.

#6

The dominant theories in psychology shifted focus in the late 1960s from the power of the environment to individual expectation, preference, choice, decision, control, and helplessness. This fundamental change in the field of psychology is intimately related to a fundamental change in our own psychology.

#7

The age of the self is also the age of depression, which is epidemic in nature. It is a result of the victim blaming himself for the origins of his depression.

#8

The biological psychiatrists believe that all mental suffering is caused by a biochemical imbalance in the brain. They treat depression with drugs or electroconvulsive therapy. But their view of depression is limited, and they make patients out of essentially normal people by making them dependent on outside forces.

#9

Depression is not something you are responsible for bringing upon yourself. It is a severe low mood that can be triggered by present troubles. You are not a prisoner of your genes or your brain chemistry.

#10

The traditional view of achievement, like the traditional view of depression, needs to be overhauled. The belief that success comes from a combination of talent and desire is flawed. Failure can occur if either talent or desire is missing, but it can also occur if you are a pessimist and lack optimism.

#11

Learned optimism is not about