Positive Psychology: Failure is an outcome, not a conclusion.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Failure is an outcome, not a conclusion.

Failure is only an outcome, not a conclusion.

“In the lexicon of youth which fate reserves

For a bright manhood, there is no such word

As fail.”

- from the play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy (1839) by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873

There is no failure, only outcome of an experiment and is therefore an observation or feedback. This idea is often attributed to Thomas Edison who failed 10,000 finding filament that would not burn before the light bulb worked. He needed to create a vacuum before succeeding. Did he then need to go back a test all 10,000 filaments again?

Positive Psychology given credence by Academia:

Positive psychology is the scientific study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive.

Commentators on the subject Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, note that:

"The field of positive psychology at the subjective level is about valued subjective experiences: well-being, contentment, and satisfaction (in the past); hope and optimism (for the future); and flow and happiness (in the present).

At the individual level, it is about positive individual traits: the capacity for love and vocation, courage, interpersonal skill, aesthetic sensibility, perseverance, forgiveness, originality, future mindedness, spirituality, high talent, and wisdom.

At the group level, it is about the civic virtues and the institutions that move individuals toward better citizenship: responsibility, nurturance, altruism, civility, moderation,tolerance, and work ethic."