The Power of Positive Thinking The Power of Positive Thinking The Power of Positive Thinking is a self-help book by Norman Vincent Peale, originally published in 1952. It makes use of positive case histories and practical instructions to propose the method of positive thinking. Peale's work describes how to achieve a permanent and optimistic attitude through unending positive conscious thought, usually through affirmations or visualizations. Peale writes that such techniques will give the reader a higher satisfaction and quality of life. Though negatively reviewed by scholars and health experts, "The Power of Positive Thinking" became popular in public opinion when first published and continues in
Magical thinking thinking: "Magical thinking is no less characteristic of our own mundane intellectual activity than it is of Zande curing practices." Bronisław Malinowski's "Magic, Science and Religion" (1954) discusses another type of magical thinking, in which words and sounds are thought to have the ability to directly affect the world. This type of wish fulfillment thinking can result in the avoidance of talking about certain subjects ("speak of the devil and he'll appear"), the use of euphemisms instead of certain words, or the belief that to know the "true name" of something gives one power over it, or that certain chants,