One of the most influential living psychologists looks at the history
of his life and discipline, and paints a much brighter future for
everyone.
When Martin E. P. Seligman first encountered psychology in the 1960s,
the field was devoted to eliminating misery: it was the science of how
past trauma creates present symptoms. Today, thanks in large part to
Seligman's Positive Psychology movement, it is ever more focused not on
what cripples life, but on what makes life worth living -- with profound
consequences for our mental health.
In this wise and eloquent memoir, spanning the most transformative years
in the history of modern psychology, Seligman recounts how he learned to
study optimism -- including a life-changing conversation with his
five-year-old daughter. He tells the human stories behind some of his
major findings, like CAVE, an analytical tool that predicts election
outcomes (with shocking accuracy) based on the language used in campaign
speeches, the international spread of Positive Education, the launch of
the US Army's huge resilience program, and the canonical studies that
birthed the theory of learned helplessness -- which he now reveals was
incorrect. And he writes at length for the first time about his own
battles with depression at a young age.
In The Hope Circuit, Seligman makes a compelling and deeply personal
case for the importance of virtues like hope, gratitude, and wisdom for
our mental health. You will walk away from this book not just educated
but deeply enriched.
