{"id":10632,"date":"2023-05-29T14:57:30","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T12:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/?p=10632"},"modified":"2023-05-29T15:47:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T13:47:20","slug":"thought-as-power-as-a-route-to-happiness-the-shift-from-positive-thinking-to-toxic-positvity-in-the-context-of-conspiritual-discourse-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/?p=10632","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThought-as-power\u201d as a route to happiness. The shift from positive thinking to toxic positvity in the context of conspiritual discourse in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"\n1. Introduction<\/b> \n\nThe ideology of positive thinking is rooted in the history of New Thought, a spiritual and secular movement dating back to 19th-century transcendentalism in the U.S., with profound implications in the religious, cultural, economical, and political aspects of American history<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. More precisely, New Thought is \u00aba spiritual and philosophical movement based on religious and metaphysical concepts, along with the ideas of mental science\u00bb<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, which spread on a worldwide scale in the 20th century and has recently come under scrutiny again with the figure of Donald Trump<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Among its contemporary core beliefs, we find the following statement: \u00abThere is power in meditation, prayer, and positive thinking\u00bb<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Hence, positivity is listed as an integral part of New Thought, which \u00ab[\u2026] set the stage for what we now know as the prosperity gospel and all the contemporary societies, organisations, institutes, books, and training programs dedicated to improving an individual\u2019s mental, physical, social, and economic well-being\u00bb<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nPositive thinking is now understood as the sum of those practices or discourses that: 1) demand the repression or avoidance of negative thoughts; 2) divide emotions into positive and negative and believe that they affect people\u2019s health; 4) have faith in the law of attraction; 5) assume that people are solely responsible for their health, prosperity, and success, as well as for their potential illness, poverty, and failure<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. According to this logic, positive thoughts provide the means to materialize health, wealth, and happiness; consequently, the only way to explain any individual or collective marginal status is the inability to control thoughts. Such unconditional trust in the power of the mind to shape and attract circumstances connects positive thinking to New Thought and opens its dialogue with the most recent New Age movements, which Horowiz describes as an update of New Thought<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nNowadays, positive thinking is also a worldwide industry making millions through self-help literature, motivational speakers, and coaching specialists<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Such \u201cmarketing of happiness\u201d requires to be analyzed and understood from a multi-layered perspective, not only as an evolution of the American Dream ideology based on the \u201cpursuit of happiness\u201d belief, but as a complex global phenomenon influencing millions of people in the private and public spheres. It is commonly agreed that the pursuit of happiness has been one of the most distinctive exports and political horizons in North American culture<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, but it is interesting to note that the use itself of the term \u201cpursuit\u201d recalls the complexity of the philosophical notion of happiness as not just the result of a rational effort, but the fruit of fate<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. There is indeed a tension between the individual agency implied in the notion of \u201cpursuit\u201d and the root of the word \u201chappiness\u201d, understood as something that \u201chappens\u201d to us, something that takes place outside of our control<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nPositive thinking generating happiness based on an absolute trust in the power of individual will has nowadays turned into an actual mindset, and the consequences of such phenomenon are increasingly being acknowledged by psychologists, sociologists, economists, and scholars in general. Positivity and happiness have become a fundamental part of the representation and understanding of ourselves and the world on social media. The use of specific hashtags is noteworthy especially on Instagram, where we find: #positivevibes (85 million posts); #positive (24,7 million posts); #positivethinking (11,7 million posts); and #positivequotes (9,9 million posts)<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. During the Covid-19 pandemic, this phenomenon reached its peak, since people spent much more time online and engaged sometimes in forced positive discourse inspired by the neoliberal positive thinking ideology, which eventually led to a decrease in genuine compassion<\/span>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, and to a less inclusive sense of community<\/span>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nIndeed, the radicalization of positive thinking can grow into a further tribalization of society, a situation in which people that \u201cfail\u201d to stay positive, and consequently happy, are considered against those who \u201csucceed\u201d in doing so. Maintaining a positive mindset at all times, especially in difficult situations, with the consequence of discounting one\u2019s negative emotions, can be seen as a form of \u201ctoxic positivity\u201d<\/span>15<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, a failure to acknowledge and comprehend the complexity of reality. Toxic positivity can be seen as an exaggeration of a person\u2019s positivity and happiness<\/span>16<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, which results in the tendency to consume health, wealth, and happiness as products or some kind of goods<\/span>17<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. In this article, toxic positivity is investigated in its emergence and development within the context of conspiritual discourses, which in turn originated in conspiracism<\/span>18<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. It has deep roots in the New Age branch of conspiritual discourse, since it is in that context that people are considered totally and solely accountable for their health, wealth, and eventual happiness.

\n\n\n2. Conspiracy theories: a brief overview<\/b>
\n\nAlthough it may seem in contrast with the valorization of the self implied in the positive thinking ideology described above, where the only thing that is accountable for influencing one\u2019s own life is one\u2019s own thoughts, the trust in conspiracy theories plays a crucial role in this context. Individuals that believe in conspiracy theories reinforce their sense of the self by considering other people unable to think independently from the manipulation of various institutions, thus deriving gratification from the absolute certainty of having discovered those secret plots that the majority of people ignores.
\nConspiracy theories can be defined as \u00abattempts to explain the ultimate causes of significant social and political events and circumstances with claims of secret plots by two or more powerful actors\u00bb<\/span>19<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, and as \u00aba denial of contingency, the discovery of patterns in events that might otherwise seem to be random, and the attribution of agency to hidden forces\u00bb<\/span>20<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. They have been collected and analyzed in numerous publications, such as Conspiracy Files <\/em>(Southwell and Twist 2007), The Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories<\/em> (McConachie and Tudge 2008), The Mammoth Book of Cover-ups<\/em> (Lewis 2008), Fifty Greatest Conspiracies of All Time<\/em> (Vankin and Whalen, updated five times between 1995 and 2004, becoming The World\u2019s Greatest Conspiracies<\/em> in 2010), Conspiracy Theory Discourses<\/em> (Demata et al. 2022)<\/span>21<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nIn the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which incremented ontological insecurity, skepticism, and paranoia<\/span>22<\/sup><\/a><\/span> conspiracy theories have increased in number and intensity. They also helped the circulation of misleading information that resulted in a general feeling of distrust oriented toward science, health organizations, the media, and governmental policies. The plethora of specific expressions that were familiar among believers in conspiracies, such as \u201cNOW\u201d (New World Order), \u201coligarchy\u201d, \u201cnegative global elite\u201d, \u201cIlluminati\u201d, \u201ccorporatocracy\u201d, \u201cmilitary industrial complex\u201d, and so on<\/span>23<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, has been recently enriched with new items: \u201c5G consciousness\u201d, \u201cWWG1WGA (Where We Go One We Go All)\u201d, \u201cdeep state\u201d, \u201cdown the rabbit hole\u201d, \u201cthe Great Awakening\u201d, \u201cthe Storm\u201d, \u201cenjoy the show\u201d, etc<\/span>24<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. The main idea behind such language is that mainstream media, as well as political, economic, and religious institutions are unreliable, therefore people are invited to autonomously \u201cdo their own research\u201d, \u201cwatch a video before is turned down, again<\/em>!\u201d, \u201cawake\u201d and \u201cfind resonances\u201d.
\nAs Piraino et al. underline, quoting other studies on the matter (such as Berry et al., 2018; Johnson, 2018; Zimaitis, Degutis, and Urbonavicius, 2020):

\n\n\u00abExistential insecurity also fuels \u201cparanoid politics\u201d (Hofstadter, 1965), a political atmosphere characterised by a perception of imminent and overwhelming danger, which can be perceived in several political contexts [\u2026] More particularly, the Covid-19 pandemic favoured conspiracy theories, not only due to the cognitive insecurity about the virus but also because it implied a social confinement which isolated people from family, work, and other social relations and boosted a massive consumption of social media, which may have reinforced prejudices and favoured paranoid behavior.\u00bb<\/span>25<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n<\/span>\n

\nIn the US, as Richard Hofstadter argued back in 1952, a certain degree of paranoia is not a piece of news in the realm of politics, where paranoid modes of expression directed towards a specific nation, culture, or way of life, have been common<\/span>26<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Acknowledging that they have also been an integral part of most nationalist movements worldwide, he stated:

\n\n\u00abI call it the paranoid style simply because no other word adequately evokes the qualities of heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy that I have in mind. In using the expression \u201cparanoid style,\u201d I am not speaking in a clinical sense, but borrowing a clinical term for other purposes.\u00bb<\/span>27<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n<\/span>\n

\nThe apocalyptic qualities that Hofstadter highlights resemble those of the revivalist sermon, \u00aba secular and demonic version of adventism\u00bb<\/span>28<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, and are found in those spokespeople who literarily construct the proof for the conspiracy theory they advocate, by a detailed accumulation of facts. These facts are called upon to prove that there is an enemy out there making crises, causing depressions, manufacturing disasters, and taking advantage of it<\/span>29<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Such an enemy:

\n\n\u00ab[\u2026] is held to possess some especially effective source of power: he controls the press; he directs the public mind through \u201cmanaged news\u201d; he has unlimited funds; he has a new secret for influencing the mind (brainwashing); he has a special technique for seduction (the Catholic confessional); he is gaining a stranglehold on the educational system.\u00bb<\/span>30<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n<\/span>\n

\nThe psychological factors driving the popularity of such a fascination for conspiracies have been discussed by researchers in various fields. Douglas et al. suggest that the people who are mostly attracted to this behavior are unconsciously satisfying three psychological deep motives: 1) epistemic, expressed by the desire for understanding, accuracy, and subjective certainty; 2) existential, namely, the need for control and security; 3) social, the will to maintain a positive image of the self or group<\/span>31<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nConspiracy theories, the researchers state, \u00ab[\u2026] provide broad, internally consistent explanations that allow people to preserve beliefs in the face of uncertainty and contradiction\u00bb<\/span>32<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Furthermore, attraction to conspiracies is \u00abstronger among people who habitually seek meaning and patterns in the environment, including believers in paranormal phenomena\u00bb<\/span>33<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. The desire to belong is also extremely important when it comes to conspiracy, since it mostly attracts people who are socially frustrated and need \u00abto relieve the self or in-group from a sense of culpability for their disadvantaged position\u00bb<\/span>34<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Feeling part of a tribe that valorizes the self within the community, blaming external factors for any negative outcomes, helps people to obtain a sense of purpose in their lives.

\n\n\n3. The emergence of conspirituality<\/b>
\n\nThe term \u201cconspirituality\u201d specifically refers to \u00aba web movement with diffuse leadership and constantly shifting areas of interest\u00bb<\/span>35<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, developing at the intersection between the New Age movement (previously defined as closely linked to the history of New Thought) and conspiracy theories. New Age followers \u201cembrace the idea of a person as an integrated whole, with mind, body, and spirit subject to a common set of principles\u201d<\/span>36<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. More specifically, they believe in a possible mystical transformation of individuals, based on universally invisible but pervasive forms of energy<\/span>37<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. In defining themselves as \u201clight-workers\u201d, New Age followers share the belief in some sort of predestination, assuming that humanity is experiencing a shift in consciousness<\/span>38<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nAs previously outlined, large-scale events lacking a clear official explanation provide the necessary elements for the development of such alternative theories, especially \u00abwhen people experience distress as a result of feeling uncertain\u00bb<\/span>39<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. In 2011, Ward and Voas dedicated a study to this phenomenon starting from a series of assumptions previously delineated by Michael Barkun: a) nothing happens by accident; b) nothing is as it seems; and c) everything is connected<\/span>40<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. They state:

\n\n\u00abWe argue that conspirituality is a politico-spiritual philosophy based on two core convictions, the first traditional to conspiracy theory, the second rooted in the New Age: (1) A secret group covertly controls, or is trying to control, the political and social order (Fenster). (2) Humanity is undergoing a \u201cparadigm shift\u201d in consciousness, or awareness, so solutions to (1) lie in acting in accordance with an awakened \u2018new paradigm\u2019 worldview.\u00bb<\/span>41<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n<\/span>\n

\nThe authors maintain conspirituality made its appearance on the web in the mid-1990s, collecting followers from the New Age movement and the counter-culture of the \u201960s and \u201970s, although, in 1987, alternative forms of spirituality and conspiracies had already started to be promoted by the print-based magazine NEXUS (Ward and Voas 2011, p. 109). Based in Australia, it still enjoys an international diffusion (Serbia, Romania, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Croatia, Canada\/USA, New Zeland, UK) and, on its website\u2019s homepage, it is described as follows:

\n\n\u00abA bi-monthly alternative news magazine covering health breakthroughs, future science, and technology, suppressed news, free energy, religious revisionism, conspiracy, the environment, history and ancient mysteries, the mind, UFOs, paranormal and the unexplained. NEXUS Magazine is not affiliated with any political, religious or spiritual groups or organisations whatsoever, and has been published since 1987.\u00bb<\/span>42<\/sup><\/a><\/span>\n<\/span>\n

\n\nThe magazine clearly embraces topics related to both conspiracy theories and the New Age expressed in the typical style used in both of those contexts, aimed at pointing out that the unexplained and suppressed will be revealed to the readers and that only a unique elite of people will be able to gain access to authentic knowledge. Starting from an analysis of the magazine, Ward and Voas further delineate the main principles of conspirituality: the idea that change and transformation result in a shift of consciousness for the whole humankind; the realization that we are all powerful spiritual beings, and that we are all connected, hence the need to awaken to the truth and \u201csee\u201d the illusion, namely, the presence of a shadow government<\/span>43<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nThis tendency towards syncretism and the ideology of \u201cendless research\u201d<\/span>44<\/sup><\/a><\/span> are not an entirely new phenomenon in our societies; they have a long history rooted in Western esotericism and occultism. Indeed, in contrast with Ward and Voas, Asprem and Dyrendal affirmed that \u00abconspirituality is better conceptualized as a predictable outcome of structurally central processes in the cultic milieu (Campbell; Barkun), the origins of which are intertwined with the history of Western esotericism\u00bb<\/span>45<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. However, a normalization process of such attitudes and behavior has increasingly taken place and conspiritual discourse is now getting more and more space in the public discourse<\/span>46<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nIn the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the emergence of discourses distorting reality became clearer, as well as the necessity to acknowledge the ethical consequences both inside and outside conspiritual echo chambers. As Byford maintains, conspiracy theorists generally use the rhetoric of scientific inquiry, or the refutational strategy of just asking questions, to support their theories: in the first case, they mimic the style of academic research (e.g., use of footnotes, references, and quotes) to contradict the official story; in the second case, they pose questions to cast doubt, interpreting the lack of official answers as a cover-up<\/span>47<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. More specifically, conspiritual language is created to effectively instill doubt in the audience, with the (ab)use of rhetorical questions, capitalization, exclamation, and question marks (e.g. \u201cAWAKE!\u201d; \u201cReally???\u201d), allusions (e.g., \u201cIsn\u2019t that weird?\u201d), ellipsis (e.g., an abundance of \u201c\u2026\u201d), and adversatives (e.g., an abundance of \u201c…BUT\u201d).
\nConspirituality has deep connections with the metaphysical, which has enlarged the group of its followers to include people interested in wellness culture, who are often in search of a cure, a guide, a mentor, or a guru<\/span>48<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. In the specific case of the Covid-19 pandemic, a fairly large amount of spectacular, unchecked, and unreliable information available online has been spread by the people who are somehow involved in the wellness, spiritual and holistic sectors, in search of alternatives. The need to find a reason, an acceptable narrative that might explain a sudden life change, has led many people to cling to Covid-19 myths shared by the so-called \u201cmisinformation super-spreaders\u201d in the field, as listed by NewsGuard 2020<\/span>49<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, for example, Global Informers (4,858,932), Rush Limbaugh (2,384,229), Energy Therapy (1,993,987), The Farmacy (1,336,754), REALfarmacy.com (1,199,499), Grow Food Not Lawns (1,1162,973), The Truth About Cancer (1,137,21),<\/span>50<\/sup><\/a><\/span> etc.
\nConspiritual discourses are linked to toxic positivity in that they manifest themselves using a similar language and on the basis of some common grounds; first and foremost, the centrality of individual experience and the demonization of values based on any traditional institutional, scientific, or religious belief. The compensatory satisfaction that people derive comes from the ability to reject official narratives and feel safe because they possess an alternative; the need for understanding, indeed, goes hand in hand with the desire for control and security<\/span>51<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.

\n\n\n\t4. Toxic positivity in conspiritual contexts<\/b>
\n\nIn the U.S. the shift from positive thinking to toxic positivity was embodied in the public behavior of former President Donald Trump. When questioned about having downplayed the impact of the virus during a press conference on April 7, 2020 (with 31,279 average daily new cases in the U.S.)<\/span>52<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, he claimed he was a cheerleader for the country, someone who did not want to create havoc and shock. Months earlier at a White House meeting, on February 27, he had literarily claimed the virus would disappear \u201clike a miracle\u201d, and on March 12, he talked about the \u201ctremendous progress\u201d made by the U.S., specifying that it was \u201cthrough talent or through luck\u201d<\/span>53<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Throughout the whole pandemic, he showed a toxic positive attitude towards the situation: with 46,975 average daily new cases, on July 1, he affirmed the virus was going to \u201cjust disappear\u201d, and he kept using the word \u201cdisappear\u201d repeatedly. CNN journalists Daniel Wolfe and Daniel Dale noted that he went on with such language through October 2020, when more than 220,000 people had already died from Covid-19 only in the U.S.<\/span>54<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In a specific study, Robert Hahn tried to estimate the proportion of deaths attributable to Trump\u2019s first pronouncements about voluntary mask use and his intention not to wear them (April 3), until his very first mask endorsement on July 21<\/span>55<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nMixing the American Dream ideology with New Thought and New Age principles, on March 28, 2020, he twitted:

\n\n\u00abWith the courage<\/em> of our doctors and nurses, with the skill of our scientists and innovators, with the determination<\/em> of the American People, and with the grace of God<\/em>, WE WILL WIN<\/em> THIS WAR. When we achieve<\/em> this victory, we will emerge<\/em> stronger and more united than ever before!\u00bb (italics mine) \n<\/span>

\nOffering what Lorenzetti calls \u00absimple solutions to a complex issue\u00bb<\/span>56<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, Trump is the perfect example of what we are trying to demonstrate here. Co-author of The Art of the Deal<\/em> (1987) with Tony Schwarz, he has always made his trust in positive thinking to achieve health and wealth public and he has often appeared delusional to international audiences. Among the many exponents of New Thought, he declared his close connection with N.V. Peale, a Methodist pastor who started his career in Brooklyn and Syracuse. The Trump family joined his church, the Marble Collegiate, where the former President got married for the first time. Peale wrote 46 books, among which The Power of Positive Thinking<\/em> in 1952 (in the best-selling book list of the New York Times for three years, translated into fifteen languages). He also hosted a radio and a TV show for forty years and run a magazine called Guideposts<\/em>, reaching millions of people. \u201cPicturize, prayerize, and actualize\u201d was his famous formula.
\nMoreover, Trump\u2019s current spiritual advisor Paula White is a charismatic preacher of positive thinking and an Apostole of NAR (New Apostolic Reformation), \u00aba loose network of independent churches with charismatic leaders, known for their prophetic pronouncements, the most important of which is that God has chosen Trump to be president\u00bb. She claims that \u00absaying no to Trump is saying no to God\u00bb and that a spiritual war against him is being perpetrated by the forces of evil<\/span>57<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. On her website, she clearly defines her standing point (she proclaims herself a fulfilled and successful person whom people should imitate) and her mission (focusing on verbs\/actions such as \u201cachieve\u201d, \u201cbenefit\u201d, \u201cuse\u201d, \u201covercome\u201d, \u201ccontribute\u201d):

\n\n\u00abFulfilled people<\/em> spend about 90 to 95% of our<\/em> time<\/em> functioning<\/em> within certain areas that are vital to our \u201csuccess\u201d<\/em>: Self-awareness; living within our own boundaries and integrity; spirituality in life purpose; social\/relational skills; how to achieve<\/em> our potential; how to contribute<\/em> our unique gifts to society; how to creatively benefit<\/em> from change; how to use <\/em>our personal strengths to overcome our weaknesses<\/em>\u00bb (italics mine)<\/span>58<\/sup><\/a><\/span> \n<\/span>

\nGoing through the titles of some of her publications – Simple Suggestions for a Sensational Life<\/em> (2005), Deal With It!: You Cannot Conquer What You Will Not Confront<\/em> (2006), Move On, Move Up: Turn Yesterday\u2019s Trials into Today\u2019s Triumphs<\/em> (2008), The Ten Commandments of Health and Wellness<\/em> (2008), Dare to Dream: Understand God\u2019s Design for Your Life<\/em> (2017), Something Greater: Finding Triumph over Trials<\/em> (2019) \u2013 it is possible to see the connection between her prosperity gospel mainly based on reaching financial wealth and Trump\u2019s sensational use of language, something he displayed not only during the pandemic. His statements on other crucial issues such as, for example, climate change, immigration, or racism are notorious. In March 2022, in an interview on Fox Business Network\u2019s Varney & Company<\/em>, he affirmed that climate change is \u201ca hoax\u201d, dismissing the issue, whereas, as far as immigration is concerned, he has always created alarm by depicting immigrants as criminals; his use of racist language has been analyzed extensively. Toxic positivity indeed became \u00aba way to whitewash the problems facing the world \u2013 global warming, poverty, inequality, racism, sexism, nationalism, and terrorism \u2013 by claiming that these things only exist because so many individuals are the \u201closers\u201d\u00bb<\/span>59<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nIn a world divided between \u201cwinners\u201d and \u201closers\u201d, the consequences of this whole complex sociocultural phenomenon have become tangible. An example is what happened after the death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old African American man killed in Minneapolis while being arrested by the police on May 25, 2020. According to the conspiritual theory circulating online after the murder, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d was a mantra<\/em><\/span>60<\/sup><\/a><\/span> invented by the secret powers operating against \u201cus\u201d to exploit the force of sound and breath to get control of people\u2019s brains, in a time in which we were obliged to wear masks and breathe differently. The typical conspiracy mindset, founded on the assumption that there are obscure plots arranged by powerful and secret actors, is here reinforced by the presence of the spiritual factor symbolized by the importance of breathing, which is a foundational principle in most yoga-centered disciplines. \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d was transformed into a metaphor for the supposed institutional attempt of silencing people by making them wear masks, an idea that has attracted the attention of individuals in the wellness industry and culture, as well as those involved in the holistic milieu.
\nThe worldwide protests following Floyd\u2019s killing redirected the world\u2019s attention toward the Black Lives Matter Movement<\/span>61<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, and the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter<\/em> regained popularity, alongside #ICantBreathe<\/em>, in the peculiar context of the Covid-19 pandemic. But, during the anti-mask rally \u201cUnmask Us\u201d in June 2020 in Scottsdale (Arizona), City Councilman Guy Philip took off his mask pronouncing and distorting the popular phrase. In line with Trump\u2019s unrealistic optimism and dismissive attitude toward the delicate situation, Guy Philip whitewashed the cause of racial injustice and police brutality, and he insulted the memory of Floyd and of all the African Americans that died in similar circumstances<\/span>62<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nAfter this episode that created a parallel between the use of masks and the words of a dying man, more posts, images, and memes circulated on social media, in which Floyd was directly mentioned or portrayed and his murder was even referred to as a staged event. The treatment of Floyd\u2019s death is an example of how decisive conspiritual discourse can be for the spread of unauthentic information since its followers or adherents are not just passive actors but also content creators. On the basis of a total lack of information on the origin of the phrase \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d, it was described as a manufactured slogan in the precise contingency of the pandemic by ignoring historical facts and with the consequence of fostering racism<\/span>63<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. The result was an Orwellian scenario in which people were encouraged to \u201cwake up\u201d and think with their own minds, illuminating the darkness of ignorance with the light of self-made knowledge.

\n\n5. Conclusion<\/b>
\n\nIt is possible to trace a distinct polarization in the discourse of conspiritualists and supporters of positive thinking, dividing the world into \u201cus\u201d and \u201cthem\u201d<\/span>64<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, those who sleep and those who are awake, those who are willing to \u201ctake the red pill\u201d <\/span>65<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and those who are not, those who trust science and those who demonize it, those who serve the system and those who challenge it, those who obey and those who disobey, etc. This, in turn, fosters a tribal division of society by always alluding to 1) the presence of a web of conspiracies; 2) the hidden ability of each individual to take control over his or her own life and happiness; and 3) the difference between the ones who dare to fight the system and the ones who are subjugated by it. It is therefore arguable, along with Tonello, that such theories are fed by the tribalization of society, a process that they also reinforce; sometimes, they even become founding myths for an ethnic, racial and generational subculture<\/span>66<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nThe Covid-19 pandemic clearly represented an adequate environment for the flourishing of such discourses, since it was a large-scale event that was extremely difficult to process in psychological terms as it suddenly disrupted people\u2019s lives without a unique and clear explanation. Anxiety, powerlessness, lack of sociopolitical control and psychological empowerment, along with lower levels of analytic thinking and education can indeed be considered as co-factors of the success of conspirational attitudes resulting in the spread of sensational and divisive language, which is somehow in contrast with the quest for clarity that the same followers of conspiritual theories strongly advocate.
\nMore specifically, the alleged \u201cauthentic\u201d truths supposed to be revealed to those who are \u201cawake\u201d are mainly based on theories that have no sound scientific evidence, created by audacious connections among facts, ideas, insights, and data, ascribable to the New Thought and New Age traditions<\/span>67<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. As Uscinski claims, such ideologies actually permeate American society across gender, age, race, income, political affiliation, educational level, and occupational status<\/span>68<\/sup><\/a><\/span>, transforming what started as a positive religious vision into a toxic trend, a form of \u201chappycracy\u201d<\/span>69<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Moreover, as outlined in the previous paragraph, when toxic positivity meets conspiritual theories, there can be serious consequences in public and political discourse<\/span>70<\/sup><\/a><\/span>.
\nFar from the ambition of investigating the whole spectrum of such a complex phenomenon, this article aimed at pointing out the shift from positive thinking to toxic positivity in the context of conspiritual discourse, which was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The benefit of a positive outlook on life and of nurturing optimism and positivity when facing difficult circumstances have been analyzed and widely appreciated by scientists and scholars, so they are not into question. Yet, it is necessary to shed light on the possible degeneration of a phenomenon that is turning happiness into \u00aba perfect commodity for a market that thrives on normalizing our obsession with mental and physical health\u00bb<\/span>71<\/sup><\/a><\/span>. Moreover, when such a quest for total fulfillment, mostly based on toxic positivity, matches the fragile fabric of society in challenging times and is amplified in public and political discourse, there can be large-scale consequences.

\n\nReferences<\/b>

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\nWeinstein Neil D., \u201cUnrealistic optimism about future life events\u201d, in \u00abJournal of Personality and Social Psychology\u00bb, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 806-820, 1980.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"L\u2019ideologia del pensiero positivo \u00e8 radicata nella storia del New Thought<\/em>, un movimento spirituale e secolare allo stesso tempo, riconducibile al Trascendentalismo americano del diciannovesimo secolo, con profonde implicazioni di natura religiosa, culturale, economica e politica. Oggi, il pensiero positivo \u00e8 anche un\u2019industria globale capace di generare grossi introiti attraverso la cosiddetta \u201cself-help literature<\/em>\u201d e i numerosissimi speakers<\/em> e coaches<\/em> motivazionali presenti sul mercato. In quanto fenomeno globale che influenza milioni di persone sia nella sfera pubblica che privata, questo vero e proprio \u201cmarketing della felicit\u00e0\u201d richiede un\u2019analisi multi sfaccettata e una comprensione del fenomeno non solo come possibile evoluzione dell\u2019ideologia dell\u2019American Dream<\/em>, basata sulla ben nota ricerca della felicit\u00e0. Il presente articolo indaga la radicalizzazione del pensiero positivo, sostenendo la possibilit\u00e0 che essa possa condurre a ci\u00f2 che si pu\u00f2 definire \u201cpositivit\u00e0 tossica\u201d, inquadrando il fenomeno nel cotesto del discorso \u201cconspirituale\u201d, a sua volta inserito nel pi\u00f9 ampio framework del cospirazionismo.","protected":false},"author":393,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[830,671,828,829,831],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10632"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13377,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10632\/revisions\/13377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bibliomanie.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}