The Role of Luck and Privilege in Success: Challenging the Power of Positive Thinking

In this episode of The A to Z English Podcast Xochitl and Jack discuss the following question:

Do you believe in the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking?

Transcript:

00:00:01

Jack

Welcome to the A-Z English podcast, where Jack and Social take you on a journey from learning the basics to mastering the nuances of the English language. Our podcast is designed for non-native speakers who are looking to improve their English skills in a fun and interactive way. Each episode covers a wide range of topics.

00:00:23

Jack

From grammar and vocabulary to slang and culture to help you navigate the English speaking world with ease.

00:00:34

Jack

Welcome to the A to Z English podcast. My name is Jack and I'm here with my co-host social. And today we have another quick chat episode for you and social today's quick chat. Question is, do you believe in the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction and just for definition?

00:00:54

Jack

Purposes here, the law of attraction is if.

00:00:58

Jack

Put out positive.

00:01:02

Jack

Energy into the universe. Then you will receive an equal amount of positive energy and good things in your life. So if I want that job, I have to put out the energy in the vibes that like I deserve that job. That's that's my job. I'm good enough for that.

00:01:23

Jack

Club and then the universe will reward me by giving me that job, and if the.

00:01:29

Jack

If I don't get.

00:01:30

Jack

The job, then that means I wasn't putting out strong enough.

00:01:35

Jack

Energy or vibrations in order to get that job. So I was a long winded explanation, but what do you think about this? The law of attraction?

00:01:47

Xochitl

And positive thinking and effect on your life.

00:01:50

Xochitl

I think positive thinking. I believe a lot in.

00:01:53

Xochitl

Toxic positivity, which is that.

00:01:56

Xochitl

You know, if someone's ill or someone is going through a lot of hardships or was a victim of something horrible and your response is that they need to think more positively.

00:02:10

Xochitl

It's very invalidating and it's toxic to the victims or the person who are enduring hardships.

00:02:18

Xochitl

And I think positive thinking is a little bit of a self fulfilling process. See in the sense that people who are positive thinkers or label themselves as such.

00:02:32

Xochitl

Probably see more good things happening in their life, because that's what they're looking for.

00:02:39

Xochitl

Like for example I a lot of people think of me as a positive thing for, but I'm not necessarily one, especially now because I've been dealing with that and I think that.

00:02:52

Xochitl

UM.

00:02:57

Xochitl

I well I'm.

00:02:58

Xochitl

Probably gonna miss some positive things that are happening to me because I might feel overwhelmed or they might.

00:03:04

Xochitl

Be overshadowed by.

00:03:05

Xochitl

Negative things like I've been sick a lot lately, and stuff like that. So someone who is in a place in their life where they insist on positive thinking might be like, hey, well, I got that job offer last week.

00:03:18

Xochitl

And someone else would be like, yeah, but, you know, I got another infection or something, so.

00:03:23

Xochitl

I think people who have like positive thinking are more likely to see positive things in their life, but it's also a symptom to me.

00:03:32

Xochitl

That you're like, in a place of privilege where your general health and life and everything allow you to think and see things more positively.

00:03:43

Xochitl

Versus someone who is.

00:03:46

Xochitl

Either a realist or someone who thinks negatively is probably not in such a great place either their physical health, mental health, or life conditions are probably not that great at the time.

00:03:59

Xochitl

Yeah. So what do you think, Jack?

00:04:01

Jack

Yeah. The last thing a.

00:04:02

Jack

A person who's sick wants to hear is a healthy person. Lecture them about the positive thinking. You know what I mean? It's just not. It's just not constructive. It's not. It's not helpful.

00:04:16

Jack

You know, I I think I think I think.

00:04:18

Jack

I'm a realist. I think. I think I'm. I'm much prefer to be grounded in reality than to kind of allow my my mind to wander into the.

00:04:31

Jack

Into the clouds of of positive thinking, you know, and so. But also, I don't think it's necessarily good to ruminate. Ruminate means to obsess about the past and to and to consume yourself with negative thoughts. Also, I think that that, that that's equally as bad as.

00:04:52

Jack

Consuming yourself with positive thoughts.

00:04:55

발표자

Right.

00:04:56

Jack

And I mean when it.

00:04:57

Jack

Comes down to it like the the biggest determiner of your economic well-being.

00:05:05

Jack

Is the ZIP code that you grew up in?

00:05:09

Jack

The where you were born you that that that statistically like will tell more about gives us more information about a person's future. You know how successful is Jack going to be? Well, where was Jack born? What zip code was he born in and then he OK so he was born in the suburbs of Minnesota.

00:05:09

Xochitl

Right.

00:05:11

Xochitl

Right.

00:05:27

Jack

Of of St. Paul, MN. Alright well that that tells me that Jack had a pretty privileged life and he is probably going to do OK and and it doesn't have anything to do with my positive thinking.

00:05:42

Jack

But if I say.

00:05:43

Jack

They're going around and preaching to people about positive thinking, like you should just think positively. I think I should start. Then they can say to me like, well, it's easy for you to say that because you grew up in a in a place of privilege. You grew up in a nice neighborhood. It was safe. You had.

00:06:03

Jack

You know, loving parents that protected you and took care of you. You had a shelter, you had clothes, you had food. You know, you never really knew.

00:06:12

Jack

What hardships were?

00:06:14

Jack

And then now you're going to talk about how all of that was just because you were thinking positively. No, it was the luck of where I was born. That's it, you know? And it was all just luck. It's it's all random chance where we're born, it doesn't mean we can't escape things. But I think the.

00:06:35

Jack

We have to remain, we have to remain.

00:06:39

Jack

We have to be realistic about it. Thank you. We have to be realistic about it. We can't just let ourselves go. Oh.

00:06:46

Jack

It's just positive.

00:06:46

Jack

Thinking because that's why I'm successful. No. And you know, or why I'm not successful is. I wasn't thinking positively enough. No, it's a lot of it has to do with with random chance.

00:06:58

Jack

Good luck.

00:06:59

Jack

And UM, unfortunately that's that's more realistic. That's the real world we live in. I don't know. Do you agree with that or what? What do you think?

00:07:06

Xochitl

Right.

00:07:09

Xochitl

Yeah, I think ultimately we the privilege that you've either been surrounded by and that is way more.

00:07:19

Xochitl

Indicative of the kind of life that you're going to live than.

00:07:22

Xochitl

Anything else I?

00:07:23

Xochitl

See it amongst my friends. Umm, I had one college educated parent.

00:07:28

Xochitl

And I got through college, but it took me longer, a little longer than most of my friends who had two college educated parents.

00:07:37

Xochitl

Who easily finished their four years.

00:07:43

Xochitl

And for my friends who had no college educated parents, a very small percentage of them even went to college.

00:07:49

Jack

Right.

00:07:51

Jack

Yeah, yeah, you can see these patterns that just replicate themselves just over and over again. You know, it's very hard to escape your, you know, your history and it it it it takes a long time. I I have one college educated parent also. And so it took me. Yeah, it did take me a little bit longer than.

00:08:13

Jack

Four years to to graduate, I did it in like 4 and.

00:08:16

Jack

Half years, but, but ultimately at the end of the day, I mean I'm I'm very privileged. I know that. And and I and I accept that it's not it, you know, it's not something that was that I it's just it was just luck you know it's just where where you're born.

00:08:23

Xochitl

Me too. Yeah.

00:08:36

Jack

And the.

00:08:36

Jack

That's it. And it doesn't mean that you're stuck in that situation, but I think it's good to recognize it as reality and say, yes, I have certain privileges and I should be thankful for that. Instead of saying attributing it all to my positive thinking. It's like everything I have is because I was a positive thinker and those who don't.

00:08:38

Xochitl

Right.

00:08:57

Jack

Have what I have are just negative and that that that stuff is nonsense. I I really.

00:09:02

Xochitl

Right.

00:09:02

Jack

Don't believe in.

00:09:02

Jack

That so I I would say ultimately this one, I do not believe in the power of positive thinking. I think it's good to to be positive when good things are happening. It's good to recognize negative things when they're happening and it's good to be realistic.

00:09:16

Jack

Sick. That's what I think.

00:09:18

Xochitl

Yeah. And I also think that the hardest working person you know is probably not a millionaire or a billionaire or even rich. In fact, the hardest working person I know is like dirt poor, and they're waking up at like 4:00 AM or 5:00 AM to go to farming every day. That's the hardest working person that I know.

00:09:39

Xochitl

Up usually as you go up in the economic bracket in jobs, the easier it kind of gets. Maybe it's mentally tiring, but it's not going to be the same as having to wake up at 4:00 or 5:00 AM to go do farm work until 8:00 PM at night, and maybe not having time to eat some days because you're so busy.

00:10:00

Xochitl

It's just a very different life to be like a A professor or a teacher or.

00:10:06

Xochitl

You know a CEO or anything?

00:10:09

Jack

Yes, let's let's let's talk about that really quickly because I think that's really important. Salary is does not like the more money you make and the earn, it does not mean you work harder. As a matter of fact, the farther up you go on the food chain, the easier your life becomes because you get more passive income.

00:10:29

Jack

And you know what I mean? Like, the more money people make that it's the easier it gets to make more money. And when you're at the at the like you said, dirt poor you. Those people work.

00:10:31

발표자

Yep, Yep.

00:10:43

Jack

Enormously long hours and very, very hard. And they're and they're never rewarded for their level of work, you know. And it's it's just so utterly unfair. And I think that the law of of attraction and the, the, the, the power of positive thinking.

00:11:04

Jack

People who who believe that.

00:11:06

Jack

Then they have to dismiss those people and say, well, you're working hard, they're not working that hard or they're not thinking positively while they're in the fields. I mean, that's what a bunch of nonsense, yeah.

00:11:16

Xochitl

Yeah, what a jerk. Move. Yeah.

00:11:20

Xochitl

Yeah, honestly, yeah.

00:11:23

Xochitl

All right. Well, if you believe in the power of positive thinking and the law of attraction or if you don't let us know, let us know your experiences and e-mail US, e-mail it to us at A-Z englishpodcast@gmail.com, leave a comment down below on our website, azenglishpodcast.com and join our WhatsApp group.

00:11:43

Xochitl

And we'll see you guys next time.

00:11:45

발표자

Bye bye.

00:11:46

발표자

Bye bye.

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