You are free to clench your buttocks. I didn't mean to say you're not allowed to.

I'm Antelod Duckworth. I'm Stephen Dubner. And you're listening to no stupid questions.

Today on the show, are there any benefits to pessimism? Imagine the very, very,

very worst scenario. The building burns down. No one ever talks to you again.

Also, is public speaking a skill that you can learn? I do know people who've done

toastmasters. It doesn't seem to make them good public speakers, but it does make them very willing and able to speak.

Angela, I'd like to ask you a question today. Sennon by a listener named Ben.

All right. And this is about something that I feel we've discussed on the show at least once or twice,

which is the power of optimism. I think it's safe to say that you and I are both all things considered

optimistic people. Yes. So in a way, Ben's question is a challenge to that, which I like. He writes,

how do you square the benefits of optimism with the harsh realities that might make any reasonable

person a pessimist? So look, I think this is a great question on a couple of levels. I think we

should unpeel it by first asking about the supposed benefits of optimism as Ben puts it. Why don't you

first tell us what the literature has to say about that? So optimism can be defined in different

ways, but the way that is often defined is the tendency to look for and be in a way biased by

information that things are going to get better and that you can make them better. And the benefits

are enormous. And I want to say ubiquitous just in the sense that when you think about all the

possible life outcomes, like doing well at work, making more money, living longer, having more

friends, being happier, these are all correlates of optimism. So first of all, I have to say your

claim about the benefits of optimism sounds really enthusiastic, like optimistically enthusiastic.

I was going to say sounds like an optimist. You say they are enormous and ubiquitous, but when I look

into the literature, which you know much better than I, here's one paper I see optimism is associated

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