I don’t know if this constitutes a great debate, but its something I’ve been wondering about a lot lately. I was always an optimist and dispised pessimists, thinking they were quick to put down, eager to laugh rather than try and appreciate, or even accept and that they never saw the value or anything.
Furthermore I think that pessimism can be sub-divided into two catagories. The first. more annoying side, is the one i have written about, the ones who laugh at everyone and can’t be bothered to try and understand the value of life in general. The next perhaps more depressing, but less in-your-face style, is always thinking the worst of life and therefore anything else is a bonus.
Now recently i’ve had lots of things go wrong, nothing major, but enough to get me down. And it made me think that perhaps i shouldn’t be so quick to be an optimist and that perhaps always trying to believe everything has a positive side is disillutionment and escapism and that i should be more of a realist.
I’m an amazingly fickle person when it comes to people,life,hope etc and i know not to take myself seriously when i feel depressed, and therefore you shouldn’t either, but i have come to the conclusion that;
**If you are an optimist you can either be proved right, or proved bitterly, and often painfully(mentally) wrong. Where as a pessimist can only be proved right, or pleasingly wrong. **
I dont believe a pessimist wants bad things to happen, but believe they believe that they naturally will. And i dont want you to think that i am depressed and go round wanting to kill myself, quite the opposite, im generally a pretty upbeat, satisfied guy. But I dont see the point in pretending its going to go great, when so often it doesn’t. Therefore I have decided I am a second catagory pessimist.
I just wondered what other people thought, people who i don’t know and will invariably have massivly differing opinions on what I have said, and what they believe.
I’m not sure what the debate is, but I’ll comment on the following, as it is a commonly made assertion, but incorrect IMHO.
The problem with pessimists is that life goes on. There is never a point at which their pessimism is conclusively shown to be wrong for once and forever. So no matter what happens, they continue to be pessimistic about future developments, and are never pleasantly surprised enough to make them happy.
So that - for example - if a guy is pessimistic about his chances for getting a certain job and then gets it, he immediately shifts into pessimistic mode worrying that the job won’t work out. And so on.
Hmm yes that does seem true, and yes i know I havn’t really specified a debate, how about, ‘Optimism Bad, Pessimism Good’, that should get everyone mad(!)
But I got a job before Christmas and i didn’t begin to worry it wouldn’t work, sure i worried, who doesn’t worry before a new job?, but i thought ‘im glad i got the job, i thought i wouldn’t’ and proceded to go to work, enjoyed it and left at the end of the time feeling better for having done it, both for money and experience etc.
I’m not saying i think everything will go wrong, or fall apart, im saying i just dont bother to really get my hopes and put myself out, so that when it goes wrong (as it invariably does) i dont feel so distraught. Of course i feel upset etc, but i dont have the same level of dissapointment, more a sense of ‘oh well…knew that would happen’ and strange as it may sound, its easier to start again.
Isn’t the same essentially true for optimists, except they can never be shown to be right? What happens when they finally snap, like Ned Flanders did when he was the only person who’s house was destroyed in a storm? Pessimists can just say, “Yep. Life’s a box-of-shit, let’s move on.”
Homer J pointed out something interesting that I’ll phrase differently: pessimists are following a mini-max strategy, i.e. they minimize their maximum loss. This is a very rational way to go about things; if life hands you lemons, then you’ve got a sour puss but your world view receives greater confirmation; however, if life hands you lemons, water, ice, a pitcher, and a shit-load of sugar, then make lemonade!
Optimists, on the other hand, are putting all their eggs in one basket, so to speak. They’re following a maxi-max strategy: maximize their maximum gain, but if they loose then they’re sunk.
optomism is the expression of one’s need to look at the world in such a way that they have hope, often to their peril, the optomist, while fun at parties, often looks at the world in a way that is unrealistic
the pessimist needs to protect him/herself, looks at the world in a way that keeps himself safe from harm, and thus does things like plan for the future. That and they kind of seem like Eyore sometimes.
neither of which is right, as both are ways of describing one’s orientation toward prediction of the future, and both optomist and pessimist can look at the same situation and go: “see, I told you so”
Optimism and pessimism are (in reality) very seldom passive states; the bright optimistic outlook is more likely, I think, to take an active role in bringing about a positive outcome, whereas a depressed pessimistic outlook is more likely to shrug and say “why bother trying? - it probably won’t work”.
In my view, the optimist and the pessimist are both, in their individual situations, more likely to be proven right than wrong - if this is true then optimism is the better course.
True optimism is realizing “Shit I’m not dead, well that means I’m still in the game!”
I never understood why pessimists were regarded as realists. It’s just as unrealistic to think everything is going to turn out dreadfully as it is to think everything will come up roses.
For me, there is as much logic to either side, and I’ve seen enough bad in my life that I could very easily be a pessimist, and in some ways, I suppose I am. However, I choose to look at the brighter side, because it makes my current moment more cheery. Fuck what comes down the road tomorrow, if I have the opportunity to enjoy life right now, and all it comes down to is a simple mental state, well I’m gonna choose the one that makes me want to get out of bed. (I have trouble getting out of bed a lot of the time though. )
Being pessimistic keeps a person a little down all the time. When something good happens, the pessimist doubts that it is for real or will last. When something bad happens, she or he will take no pleasure in being right.
My shrink said that being a pessimist never prepares anyone for the hurt when it comes anyway. It doesn’t make anything easier.
Being optimistic helps a person to get through difficult times. When something good happens, the optimism is reenforced. When something bad happens, the optimist is able to pull out of it more quickly.
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