Bright Side Review by Sumit Paul Choudhary – Hymn to Positivity | Philosophical books

CWhat is the effect of optimism on events in your life? Does fate smile at those who see the cup half full? Science writer Sumit Paul Choudhary thinks so. The Bright Side: Why Optimists Have the Power to Change the World is a hymn to positivity, but fear not: it’s not a self-help book, and there’s more than just platitudes about manifesting and living your best life.

The author realized that he was an optimist by nature after his wife’s premature death from cancer. In the aftermath, he made an active decision “not to spend any more time in limbo than I already had” and “cultivated the idea that the future would be bright.” He says that optimism is “essential to the human psyche.” It promotes social progress and encourages individuals to be resilient and tolerant of stress, to be more successful at work and to create stronger bonds with friends and family. Among the examples of optimism presented here are Ernest Shackleton, who survived stranding in Antarctica with his crew, and Helen Keller, who lost her hearing and sight after a childhood illness and later wrote, in her 1903 essay “Optimism,” about discovering hope and joy.

Paul Choudhury is our optimistic narrator, but he is never the narrator. His reading, like his writing, is thoughtful and practical. Could optimism – the kind that leads people to assume that they will not get cancer or lose their livelihood – be the result of naivety or delusion? Perhaps, but this is not an argument for uncompromising realism. Paul Chaudhry emphasizes that consciously seeing brightness and opportunity rather than misery and disaster means ultimately investing in one’s future and creating change.

Available from Canongate, 8 hours 45 minutes

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