# Is the glass half-empty or half-full? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708 "2005-05-13T17:56:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea666f/32.png) [@Try\_As\_I\_Might](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try_As_I_Might)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/21 "2005-05-13T19:44:25Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > If is is beer, it is half empty. not at my place–it’s gone! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/22 "2005-05-13T19:47:28Z")
50% of the people will say half full, 50% will say half empty and 50% won’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Arwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Arwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arwin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/23 "2005-05-13T19:56:46Z")
_serious mode_ If you’re interested in how much is in there, it’s half full. If you’re interested in how much is not in there, it is half empty. _slightly serious mode_ What glass? I don’t see a glass … _not-all-that serious mode_ Do you mean a philosophical glass? Because then the glass is probably full … of sh\*t! _way not serious mode_ HEY! Ga ga ga ga. Woooooooooooooooooooooooooo … ! _Ki ki ki kikikiki ki ki ki._ (1) _Ki._ _Kaboom_ _Ki ki ki._ (1) _Martian 1: Is that planet half green or half blue?_ _Martian 2: What planet?_ _Kaboom_ **sadistic laughter** ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/24 "2005-05-14T17:45:14Z")
From the point in life that I’m in, having 1/2 the glass remaining is just fine with me. If the last 1/2 is as great as the first I will need to get moving to finish it, even if I stay around for many years (knock, knock). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/25 "2005-05-14T19:08:36Z")
The glass is twice as big as it needs to be. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/26 "2005-05-14T19:37:23Z")
Of what? ---
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/27 "2005-05-14T19:43:54Z")
Just half. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/28 "2005-05-14T19:48:31Z")
An optimist would say it’s half full. A pessimist wants to know how come the optimist got his glass first. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/29 "2005-05-14T21:37:04Z")
Since the purpose of a glass is to be filled with something then it is half full. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/30 "2005-05-14T21:46:34Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Well? 😉 It is not possible to answer that question without further information, unless you posted a link that I missed. What glass are you talking about? Do you have a photograph of it? That question is a bit like “How long is a piece of string?” The answer to that one is of course, “Six.” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/31 "2005-05-14T21:50:47Z")
The glass is… shiny! _is entranced by the glass_ ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/32 "2005-05-14T22:39:08Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Well? 😉 The glass is _already broken_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/33 "2005-05-14T22:40:08Z")
There is no glass. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/34 "2005-05-14T22:40:20Z")
Now it’s empty. Another beer, por favor? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/35 "2005-05-14T22:43:20Z")
My Beer glass is made of plastic. So it’s a _‘plastic’_. My plastic is nearly empty. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/36 "2005-05-14T23:19:28Z")
The linguist prefers to diagram this sentence about the glass . The scientist forms a hypothesis and wants six more glasses of precisely the same volume for his control group and to run some tests before offering his conclusion. The Creatonist knows that God designed the glass and the water is only 5,000 years old. The Baptist assumes it’s miracle there’s any fluid at all. The Buddhist wonders if there isn’t some middle way. The humorist pokes fun at the glasses’ “rim” “bottom” and “body.” The sexist thinks the glass is just sitting around getting fat. The feminist finds the glass offensively phallic. (The sexist and the feminist will wake up in bed together tomorrow) The post-modernist tries to make some statement about the glass that isn’t hopelessly hackeneyed or jejune. The bi-polar feel one way sometimes aaaand sometimes another. The paranoids don’t even want to touch the glass without gloves. The realist is wondering: Wait, is the glass is clean? The surrealist’s glass is melting. The racist sees any glass that’s half-anything the result of rampant miscegenation and blames the Jews. The politician won’t comment until his handlers give him the go ahead. ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/37 "2005-05-15T21:44:17Z")
[This “Klein Stein”](http://www.kleinbottle.com/drinking_mug_klein_bottle.htm) could be simultaneously half full and half empty. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/38 "2005-05-15T22:01:22Z")
Come on, you’ve already got approximately 9x10[sup]24[/sup] water molecules in there, how many more did you want? ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/39 "2005-05-15T22:07:10Z")
It’s a special decoy glass. The real glass is in a secret location. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708/40 "2005-05-15T22:57:38Z")
To add to **Askia** ’s list: The salesman hopes a lot of people are stupid enough to pay more for a half-full glass than for a half-empty one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-glass-half-empty-or-half-full/303708.md?page=3)