Hopeful Thinking: Goodness needs not terror to defend it

Hopeful Thinking: Goodness needs not terror to defend it

There is a quiet revolution underway in psychology, neuroscience and education — one that confirms what many spiritual traditions have long intuited: people grow best when they are encouraged, not threatened. We are more likely to change, to learn, and to care when we are motivated by belonging, meaning, and hope rather than fear, shame or punishment. Modern psychology makes this clear. Decades of research on positive reinforcement show that beh…