The new science of optimism and longevity

If optimism shapes reality, and helps people progress more quickly, and if progress has brought improvements in health, lifespan, happiness, equality, and a host of other measures that matter, then more optimism is good.

Research has shown a staggering number of health benefits associated with dispositional optimism, from improvements in cardiovascular health, to how quickly wounds heal, to slower disease progression.

Psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman on optimism:

"If you are allowed one wish for your child, seriously consider wishing him or her optimism. Optimists are normally cheerful and happy, and therefore popular; they are resilient in adapting to failures and hardships, their chances of clinical depression are reduced, their immune system... See more