I’ve decided I must be the love child of Dorothy Parker and Oscar Levant—my outlook on life is, and always has been, incurably dark and bleak. Oh, sure, I know how lucky I am: I have a job (that I hate), live in a nice area (that’s likely to be blown up soon), I’m fairly healthy (till I get cancer or a brain tumor). I have lots of lovely friends (who will also die horribly someday).
I envy the Pollyannas of the world, who believe in The Goodness of Mankind, and karma and gods and afterlives and all that other applesauce. But as for me, I brood and mull and just wait for that inevitable anvil to come crashing down on my noggin.
Surely I’m not alone—are their any other nihilists here?
I don’t know if I’d call myself a nihilist, but I do understand the mindset you describe. Ironically, I am, by nature, an optimist. No one who has only known me for a short time would believe that, though. Quite the contrary; I have a bit of a reputation as a “doomsayer”. While everyone around me is getting all excited about whatever the latest shiny new toy/concept/event happens to be, I’ll be sitting there going “Ummm…guys? Have you considered…”
This is because, when I was young, I would look at every situation and say “well, maybe <insert something good, here> will happen”. Very rarely did the hoped for thing happen. Often, the bad alternative happening, instead, would come as a crushing blow. To avoid repeated crushing, I’ve learned to look for the worst possible outcome, and anticipate it happening. That way, if the worst happens, I’m prepared; if it doesn’t, I’m pleasantly surprised. Rarely do I find myself crushed, these days, by the foreseeable outcome of a chain of events. This “look for the trap” mentality is now so ingrained, it’s second nature.
Some people, especially those who fancy themselves spindoctors, find this really annoying. Particularly corporate hacks who are trying to make cost cutting measures, designed to increase the value of the CEO’s stock options, sound like a benefit for the employees. The upside is I am unspinnable. I automatically see the downside to anything, so when they start trying to spin it, it just doesn’t work on me.
** Behold! Look upon me, and tremble. For I am the Anti-Spin!**
Maybe I’m a bit cynical myself today; you be the judge. Eve, do you really envy the Pollyannas or do you think they’re idiots?
I ask because I would consider myself Pollyannaesque and have gotten myself married into a family of cynics. El Hubbo’s the only one who hasn’t expressed distaste for my usual bent; he does find other perennially happy people annoying.
Just wondering.
Okay, I admit it. I hope you don’t think I’m a moron.
While I generally agree with you Eve, I hate to say it but I’m an optimist.
I’m so happy to know that I’ll either be killed in a terrorist attack, send off to die un djubouti (should we invade there) or die from that new virus running around the globe.
Beats the crap out of dying from something I contracted from work for a lousy 12.50 an hour.
Or, in other words, hope for the best, expect the worst.
That pretty much describes my mindset as well. Although, I’ve sometimes found that even after I’ve fully contemplated what a situation’s worst case scenario could be like, it still turns out to be far more horrible than I could ever have imagined.
Yes, occasionally that will happen, but rarely. And, it’s less devestating if you’re expecting something bad to happen, even it’s not the same bad something.
I’m in a mixed marriage, too, Gazelle from Hell - I’m the optimist, and my husband is the gold medal winner in both the Olympic Wet Blanket Toss and the Standing Conclusion Jump. He’s forever claiming something dire is about to happen, and I’m forever saying things aren’t as bad as all that.
As it happens, I’m usually right, and I’m not just saying that because he’s asleep three rooms away and can’t argue the point.
Speaking as the love child of Ayn Rand and Machiavelli, would that be nihilist in the, “annihilation of consciousness as an aspect of mystical experience,” sense; in the “power-mad total and absolute destructiveness,” sense; or in the, “my damned donut has jelly in it again and I specifically asked for the custard,” sense? If the latter, allow me to employ my unofficial position as right hand concubine to the Most Holy and Sacred Giant Roman Bunny Rabbit to grant you nihil obstat. Be gentle with us. It is our first time.
Aw, maaan. I wanted to be Bitter. First Eve took Cynical, which is my favorite, then I was ready to settle for Bitter (since it’s her OP and all) and now look what happens. I’m stuck with Depressed. It’s just like when I used to play Monopoly with my brother and sister when we were kids. My sister got the dog, my brother got the car and I, the youngest, was stuck with the shoe or the thimble or something equally stupid. Stupid, stupid Depressed.
