People With Disabilities Have A Complicated Relationship With “Positivity”
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” - Attributed to figure skater Scott Hamilton.
When you search this quote on Google the first thing you will see is a collection of pictorial memes, featuring the quote, most of them alongside images of visibly disabled people in some impressive activity –– usually some kind of athletics or physical feat. Whether or not it was originally meant as a comment about disability and disabled people, the quote has been widely used to promote the idea that adopting a positive attitude can overcome a disability or the problems of having a disability.
On the other hand …
“You know, no amount of smiling at a flight of stairs has ever made it turn into a ramp. Never. Smiling at a television screen isn’t going to make closed captions appear for people who are deaf. No amount of standing in the middle of a bookshop and radiating a positive attitude is going to turn all those books into Braille.“ - April 2014 TED Talk, “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much,” by Stella Young.
One of the hardest things for disabled people to explain to people who aren’t disabled is our frequently negative reactions to positive sentiments and approaches.
There is already a more general objection that the common-sense values of optimism and everyday kindness too often become a more explicit and specific system of magical thinking –– like the idea of “manifesting” what you want or need in life purely through thought exercises. You don’t have to be disabled to take some of the more extreme “wellness” and “motivational” fads with a shaker full of salt.
But for disabled people in particular, positivity is an especially mixed bag.
Of course, the advantages of positivity are obvious next to the implied alternative.
While persistent pessimism can easily lead to depression and a debilitating sense of futility and nihilism, optimism can be energizing and motivating. When enough of your goals come to seem impossible, it’s easy to lapse into emotional depression, and even nihilism, the belief that nothing really matters. If you believe you can accomplish something, it’s easier to work through the efforts needed to succeed. If you fundamentally feel that your efforts are futile, it’s harder to maintain the effort. สล็อตทดลองเล่น
Positivity is also just a more pleasant mindset to have, at least superficially and temporarily.
Most people prefer a positive, hopeful mood over depression, hopelessness, or unhappiness. And some people do find that they can will themselves into a more positive mindset, or at least fortify their mood to better face hard tasks or difficult situations.
It’s also usually easier to get along with people, and be accepted and liked, if you have a positive outlook and cheerful demeanor.
Just as people generally prefer to be happy, most find it more pleasant to be around other people who are happy, or at least kind, upbeat, and easygoing. And one way a disabled person can put non-disabled people who are uncomfortable with disability at ease is to come across as least superficially “nice” and unbothered.