Welcome to 
Operation: Human,
 the only science-backed weekly newsletter dedicated to developing your human intelligence in the age of AI.

Issue 46: Emotion (Optimism) and Slumdog Millionaire

We're devoting each newsletter to one of your primal powers. 
 
This week's power is Emotion.
 
Curious which area of human intelligence might help you the most? Take the diagnostic.
 

 
Emotion
Dear First name / friend,
It’s spring! Let's talk optimism.
 
Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire exploded onto American movie theater screens in 2008, garnering critical acclaim, legions of devoted fans, and 11 Oscar nods.
 
If it's been a while, see how the trailer makes you feel.
 
 
Feeling good?
 
There’s a reason for that.
 
Typical American fairy tales center on a princess who thwarts her jealous enemies to earn the happily-ever-after she “deserves”— in the form of a kiss, a pair of human legs, or a glass slipper.
 
Billed as a modern-day fairy tale, Slumdog refused to play into Disney's notion of pitting good v. evil and deserving v. not deserving. 
 
Instead, it harkened back to an ancient understanding of fairy tale in which good fortune shines down indiscriminately and unexpectedly.
 
Our slumdog faces real threats — hunger, violence, and poverty— for no reason other than he’s alive. He’s not targeted because of his beauty or his mind, like Snow White or Belle.
 
He simply inhabits a world that can be cruel.
 
He inhabits a world that can be cruel and in which fortunes can change on a dime.
 
Jamal doesn’t “earn” his moments of good fortune. Instead he stumbles into them by chance.
 
You may warm to stories in which deserving people are rewarded. But your brain knows that these aren't the most impactful fairy tales. 
 
It’s the fairy tale twist, the indiscriminate and unexpected change of fortune, that reminds your brain that the good fortune can befall anyone at anytime. 
 
Even you.
 
That's what feels really good. 
 
Why do we do this exercise? 
So you get better at identifying what you feel and why. 
 
So we have a reference library of literary works to help you alleviate hard feelings when they hit and to flourish by building up stores of positive emotions. 
You can learn more about the narrative technique that excites optimism in chapter 7 of Wonderworks.
 

 
Missed an issue? They're available in our archive.
 
Next week, Commonsense.
 

 
As always, thank you for reading,
Sarah & Angus
 
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that has been called “groundbreaking" (The US Army), "mind-blowing" (Malcolm Gladwell), and “life-changing”(Brené Brown).
 
Studies show our methods substantially increase creativity, innovation, resilience, and self-efficacy across populations as diverse as US Army Special Operations, elementary school students, and business leaders.
 
These are methods you can cultivate.
 

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