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Sixth Form Assembly

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“Some people are so pessimistic, when they see light at the end of the tunnel – they go out and buy

more tunnel.”

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Matt Ridley

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The Rational Optimist

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Life is better now than it has ever been.

Take 50 years ago…

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Life is better now than it has ever been.

1. We're better off now

Compared with 50 years ago, when I was just four years old…• the average human now earns nearly three times as

much money (corrected for inflation), • eats one third more calories, • and can expect to live one third longer.

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Life is better now than it has ever been.

2. The important stuff costs less

One example: • In 1800, a candle providing one hour's light cost six

hours' work. • In the 1880s, the same light from a kerosene lamp

took 15 minutes' work to pay for.• In 1950, it was eight seconds. • Today, it's half a second. In these terms, we are

43,200 times better off than in 1800.

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Life is better now than it has ever been.

3. Great ideas keep coming

• The more we prosper, the more we can prosper. The more we invent, the more inventions become possible.

• The ever-increasing exchange of ideas causes the ever-increasing rate of innovation in the modern world.

• There isn't even a theoretical possibility of exhausting our supply of ideas, discoveries, and inventions.

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Life is better now than it has ever been.

4. Optimists are right

There is immense vested interest in pessimism. • No charity ever raised money by saying things are

getting better. • No journalist ever got the front page writing a story

about how disaster was now less likely. • Pressure groups and their customers in the media search

even the most cheerful statistics for glimmers of doom. • Don't be browbeaten-dare to be an optimist!

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One example: food

http://www.rationaloptimist.com/videos/rational-optimist.aspx

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“The optimist sees the doughnut. The pessimist sees the hole.”

Oscar Wilde, Playwright, author

“The average pencil is 7 inches long with just a ½ inch eraser – in case you thought optimism was

dead.”

Robert Brault, American poet

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“Teaching, and with it learning are the greatest acts of optimism.”

Colleen Wilcox

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How You Think About Problems #1:‘Always’ vs. ‘Not Always’

Do you believe that the problem will persist forever and you can’t do anything to change it?

Do you think that the causes are passing and that you have some control over the circumstances?

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How You Think About Problems #2:‘Everything’ vs. ‘Not Everything’

The Everything person thinks the problem will spill into every domain of his/her life and will be ongoing.

The Not Everything person is good at defining the problem as specific to this situation.

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The evidence:

“Students who associate with positive peers” are less likely to “engage in behaviours that do not promote academic success.”

(Nichols and White, 2001)

Effect size of having a positive peer group:

+0.9 grades

(Hattie and Marzano, 2000)

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Social Media can help….get your phone out!@alevelmindset – quotes, links and materials on attitude and approach. Great blog too@LPerformance – ‘learning to learn’ website with decent tweets too@thestudentroom – big, popular student network@ambitiondaily – good positive quotes to keep you fired up