I appreciate the several suggestions regarding Dynamic Optimism. While Dan reports some negative response to "Dynamic" Optimism, I have come across many positive responses. However, I take your point and don't deny that it invokes associations of "dynamic tension" (Charles Atlas), etc. in some. The trouble is, almost any choice of term will probably have *some* drawback.
While "active" does contrast with "passive" it doesn't have the implication of rationality that I'd like to build into the name. So, how about:
Practical Optimism
This seems to me to imply both active rather than passive optimism, and a critical rather than mindless optimism. It also avoids any new age-ish connotations. I'd appreciate hearing some responses to this as a replacement name for Dynamic Optimism.
Max
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