Student Health Warns of New, Highly Addictive “Positive” Attitude
By Alexander Dunlap
April 20, 2014
The University’s Student Health and Counseling Service has issued a warning to students and administrators about a harmful and highly addictive attitude reported to be on the rise in college communities nationwide. Officially known as “positive,” the attitude is also referred to by the street names “silver lining,” “bright side,” “hope,” or simply “happiness,” and is linked to a wide variety of debilitating effects, including refusal to sweat the small stuff, poor performance in whining sessions, and lack of motivation to avoid the outdoors.
Recent health surveys report that only 11% of UChicago students use positive attitude “every day,” but as many as 28% do so “several times a month.” Nonetheless, because of the ease with which positive attitude can be distributed and the extent to which students can develop a dependence, administrators fear that the use could increase rapidly, especially during the coming spring and summer months.
Even students who do not intend to use positive attitude themselves may be subject to its harmful effects, due to a phenomenon known as “secondhand positive attitude.” Addicted individuals engaging in typical behaviors may pass the effects of the attitude on to bystanders. Activities such as smiling, laughing, building relationships, hugging, and even having a genuine conversation can transmit many of the harmful effects of positive attitude to others in the vicinity. Moreover, people who have been exposed to secondhand positive attitude are more likely to use the attitude themselves, often after first trying less-potent but equally addictive “gateway attitudes” such as “tomorrow will be better than today” and “taking it in stride.”
The University of Chicago Police Department recently announced an increased patrol presence at locations such as dining hall house tables, cool professors’ offices, the Point, and grassy parts of the Quadrangles, which have reputations as “hot spots” of illicit positive attitude use and distribution. Students found possessing more than three iotas of positive attitude will be subject to disciplinary procedures including more homework and sunny-day curfews.
University administrators are also developing “softer” measures to discourage students from using positive attitude. In an email, University spokesperson Emmy Davis wrote, “The University of Chicago is committed to doing all it can do stem the rising tide of positive attitude on campus and in the larger community.” Among the proposals under consideration, Davis wrote, are an expansion of Career Advancement, tuition increases, and a university-wide public relations campaign with the slogan “Your Core Bio Quiz Grades Determine Your Worth As a Person.” She added that this spring, the Office of Admissions sent positive-attitude-inducing letters to fewer than 9% of College applicants, an all-time low.
