The psychologist Fred H. Goldner coined the term “pronoia” to describe the positive counterpart of paranoia. People with pronoia possess the delusion that, despite any evidence to the contrary, the universe is scheming for their success and that others like, trust, and want the best for them. What do you call a non-delusional pronoid? A secure person. Unless there’s evidence otherwise, their default assumption is that others are trustworthy, like them, and want the best for them. They aren’t Pollyannas—they adjust this optimism based on additional data. But this initial optimism, the belief
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