anti-paranoia

[Doug Millison]

Turns of Phrase: Pronoia

Pronoia is the suspicion that the universe is a conspiracy on your
behalf, the opposite of the popular sense of 'paranoia'. It seems
to have been invented by the sociologist Fred Goldner in an article
in _Social Problems_ in 1994, in which he defined it as "the
delusion that others think well of one", the unreasoning belief
that your superiors think you are indispensable, that your
colleagues adore you, and that you are doing brilliantly in your
work. He was warning against the dangers of the rose-tinted view,
in which an over-positive view of oneself and the world around one
can lead to fatal mistakes. It was soon taken up by the short-lived
group called the ZIPPies (the Zen Inspired Pronoia Pagans) invented
by a London club promoter named Fraser Clark. The word has a small
continuing niche, though its adjective 'pronoid' is less common.

Looking at these kids, it doesn't require my usual pronoia to think
that I'm glimpsing the future of this place.
                                         [_Wired_, Jan. 1999]

She introduced the CEOs to the flip side of paranoia: "pronoia" -
the idea that everyone is not out to get you, but that they are out
to love you, or at least to appreciate you, if you reciprocate.
According to the new Darwinism, only the pronoid survive - in fact,
only the pronoid endure and flourish.
                                  [_Fast Company_, Nov. 1999]

from:
WORLD WIDE WORDS        ISSUE 205        Saturday 16 September 2000
<http://www.quinion.com/words/>