Which is better: Optimism or pessimism?

CrowdScience listener Lauren from Belgium has near-complete hearing loss in one ear, because all the sensory hair cells in her inner ear have died. This got her thinking about how complicated the human ear is and whether there are other animals with simpler ears, in particular in ...  Show more

Some animals lay eggs, and their young hatch out of them. Other animals give birth to live young. But which strategy is best? That’s the question that’s been bothering CrowdScience listener Sameer in Canada. Is giving birth to live young a good reproductive strategy? It takes a l ...  Show more

We live in a culture obsessed with hope. We are trained to believe that being hopeful is the key to success. Stay positive. The sun will come out tomorrow. Keep the faith. But maintaining that kind of blind hope is hard. When our hopes are dashed, we often feel defeated. In a wor ...  Show more

Is the cup of life half full or half empty? Would you call yourself an optimist or a pessimist? What if you weren’t actually in control of this, but instead through the process of evolution your brain had been hardwired to be optimistic? Neuroscientist Dr. Tali Sharot calls this ...  Show more

In today's episode, we're exploring the topics of optimism, pessimism, and realism. These are different attitudes towards life and the future and can have a massive impact on your happiness and mental health.I go over the definitions and words, discuss some possible benefits of b ...  Show more