The Bright Side: How Optimists Change the World, and How You Can Be One

by Sumit Paul-Choudhury

Overview

In the thought-provoking tradition of Steven Pinker’s Enlightenment Now and Yuval Noah Harari’s Homo Deus, a fascinating and reassuring look at the philosophy, psychology, and practice of optimism, and why being optimistic is a moral obligation—even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Scrolling through our daily newsfeeds we see violence and cruelty, turmoil and injustice, fake news and clickbait, and worsening environmental and social crises—just a few of the dark currents feeding a tidal wave of pessimism. In the face of so many challenges, how can we stay optimistic? And, more important, why should we?

In The Bright Side, Sumit Paul-Choudhury answers these pressing questions, arguing that optimism is not only essential for overcoming the challenges we face, but also fundamental to human wellbeing. Drawing on a wide array of evidence—from biology to history, and from economics to meteorology—he delves into the underappreciated roots of optimism, examines its impact on mental health and professional success, and discusses why it has a power that wishful thinking lacks.

Additionally, The Bright Side shows how we can apply the principles of optimism to cope with environmental crises, artificial intelligence, and social change. From the polar reaches to the world’s mightiest cities, through inspirational figures including explorers, activists, and scientists, the book illustrates optimism in action.

A beacon amid dark times, The Bright Side provides a lens through which we can see the challenges we face more clearly—and it also offers tools for solving them, to create a better future for ourselves and generations to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668031407
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	01/07/2025
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	75,044
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Sumit Paul-Choudhury writes, thinks, and dreams about science, technology, and the future. A former Editor-in-Chief of New Scientist, he trained as an astrophysicist, has worked as a financial journalist, and, at the London Business School, received a Sloan Fellowship in strategy and leadership. Currently, he devotes most of his time to his creative studio Alternity, which puts the ideas in this book into scientific and artistic practice. He lives and works in London.

Editorial Reviews

YIELDS INTERESTING DETAILS...In The Bright Side Sumit Paul-Choudhury argues that optimism, though it may seem irrational at times and even ridiculous, is ‘central to the human psyche’....While the world can be bleak, it turns out that consciously adopting an optimistic philosophy can nudge us to take steps to make the world and its future—our own future included—less terrible.”
—Wall Street Journal

“PAUL-CHOUDHURY PRESENTS A FASCINATING AND WIDE-RANGING ARGUMENT that is hopeful but never trite or self-satisfied. With multiple expanding international conflicts, an ongoing global climate crisis, and the advent of Trump’s second term in the White House, it is a perspective that will be sorely needed.”
—The Guardian

“AN EXPANSIVE TOUR DE FORCE that helps readers understand what drives us to imbue ourselves with optimism and how to use it to create a better future. Paul-Choudhury’s own voice shines through—he is witty, empathetic and a beautiful writer...We’re born optimists, Paul-Choudhury argues; if you’re no longer one, this title will give you a way back—and a lot more besides.”
—The Observer (U.K.)

“SUMIT PAUL-CHOUDHURY TRANSFORMS OPTIMISM FROM A SOFT-HEARTED NOTION INTO A HARD-HEADED ADVANTAGE. The Bright Side makes optimism rigorous, challenging us to see it as a disciplined, effective way to tackle the world’s toughest challenges.”
—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Drive and The Power of Regret

“A BOOK WE DESPERATELY NEED RIGHT NOW...Sumit Paul-Choudhury musters powerful arguments from science, history, and psychology to remind us of what is hidden in plain sight—our proven ability to shape a future that promotes human thriving. This is science-based chicken soup for the soul. It will both nourish and empower you.”
—Robert Waldinger, M.D., bestselling coauthor of The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness

“BRILLIANTLY SHOWS THE WAY OUT. Both personal and universal, interwoven with examples from literature, history and modern science, this book shows us how to find within us fierce imagination and determined hope, and create a better future.”
—Rowan Hooper, author of Superhuman and How to Spend a Trillion Dollars

“MAKES A COMPELLING CASE. Psychological science shows that optimism is up to us, an existential choice. The facts of our external world, however, do not compel optimism, and Paul-Choudhury in a masterful historical review finds that it is the optimists who change the external world for the better while the realists passively accept their lot. I went away from this book inspired and enriched.”
—Martin E.P. Seligman, bestselling author of Learned Optimism and Flourish

“A CHARMING AND GENEROUS INVITATION TO THE FUTURE...The Bright Side is a still, small voice of calm in a culture hijacked by apocalyptic thinking and regimented behavior.”
—Simon Ings, author of The Weight of Numbers

“MOVING AND INSIGHTFUL...This argument for optimism stands up against the cynical mood of the 21st century, challenging—and equipping—the reader to help create a better world.”
—Michael Brooks, author of the bestselling 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense

“A TONIC FOR OUR TIMES. Paul-Choudhury showed impressive courage after his young wife’s death, vowing to map the intellectual and psychological underpinnings of optimism. We are the beneficiaries of his tenacity. In lucid, lively, never highfalutin prose he brings onstage such characters as Odysseus, Oedipus, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Helen Keller, each of whom has a vital lesson to impart. The book’s conclusion: not only is optimism rational, it is a twenty-first century necessity.”
—Meredith Wadman, author of The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease

“A SALVIFIC, JOYOUS PAEAN TO ALL THAT’S POSSIBLE. Read this book. Don’t be the version of yourself that doesn’t: because the best possible version of you is almost certainly the one that picks it up. Peppered with the effortless wit—and profound curiosity—that only a true optimist can muster, Paul-Choudhury’s The Bright Side is a panoramic guide to why we should always hope that things can get better, even when it seems most likely they will not. It is just the book this world needs.”
—Thomas Moynihan, author of X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction

“A THRILLING AND GALVANIZING RIDE...The optimism Paul-Choudhury describes is not just for the self-help aisle—it is a societal engine for creating the best of all possible worlds. This book is nothing less than a set of operating instructions for a better future.”
—Sally Adee, author of We Are Electric

“A WHOLE NEW LENS THAT PROMISES TO TRANSFORM HOW WE NAVIGATE THE 21ST CENTURY. Many books on optimism take an individualist approach; The Bright Side is altogether more ambitious: this is a guide for civilization...wise about the lessons of the past, clear-sighted about the challenges of the present, and hopeful about the possibilities of tomorrow.”
—Richard Fisher, author of The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time

“A SPELLBINDING TOUR DE FORCE. Paul-Choudhury has crafted an expansive and convincing argument for why building a better future demands that we believe in it first. An urgent call to arms to choosing change over doom, action over despair, optimism over hope.”
—Roberto Trotta, astrophysicist and author of Starborn

“DEFTLY MELDS SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, AND CULTURE to build a convincing case for optimism. I left this book feeling energized and empowered.”
—David Robson, author of The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World

“A TRULY INSPIRATIONAL AND BEAUTIFUL BOOK WITH A POWERFUL AND TIMELY MESSAGE...I was left wondering how much humanity would change for the better if everyone read this book.”
—Jim Al-Khalili, author of Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Physics

“DAZZLING. Optimists believe problems can be solved—and we could sure use some optimism right now. Sumit Paul-Choudhury’s The Bright Side lights the way.”
—Gregg Easterbrook, author of The Progress Paradox

From the Publisher