There's a place for us

And now they've found it. Unpopular as the idea may be, I've long maintained that optimism is good for you in the same way that full-octane triple scoop ice cream is good for you: very rarely.

Now we have plausible evidence in this study which, despite the dimwitted headline, isn't exactly about being bad at relationships. Rather, it's an argument that those of us who can't sustain (or tolerate) perkiness for more than five minutes at a time have a legitimate evolutionary function. The function is to be the first one in a group who notices that the cave bear is getting really really close during the group sing.

It is a comfort when science backs up one's intuition, and now I have a perfect comeback when someone perky reproves me for my anxiety. The study offers one more reason to regard Marvin as the best sci-fi character of all time.

"I'd make a suggestion, but you wouldn't listen.... No one ever does."