# Optimist vs Pessimists **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602 "2009-03-07T00:11:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602/21 "2009-03-08T08:35:13Z")
“Pessimist” is a word invented by optimists to describe realists. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602/22 "2009-03-08T09:36:33Z")
> [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](#): > > Optimists say “the glass is half full.” > > Pessismists say “the glass is half empty.” This one I never got (I do realize you posted it as a joke, though) – doesn’t both ‘empty’ and ‘full’ imply something about the history of the glass? Meaning that the glass being half full, it has only been filled to half its capacity, possibly because there’s nothing more available – nothing to be glad about in all cases --, yet being half empty, it’s presumably been emptied, possibly by you, in which case you’ve already drunk half a glass, which in turn is nothing to be sad about. So it’s in fact backwards! Me, though, my glassed tend to follow an alternating binary behaviour – full, empty, full, etc. I suppose this either makes me a realist, or just a drinker. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602/23 "2009-03-08T10:46:14Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The problem with “studies” like this is, even if they’re valid (which is dubious), there’s not much anybody can do to take advantage of them. > > To use a different (and completely made up) example, SUPPOSE a similar study showed that devout Christians were much happier and lived much longer than atheists. > > Well, what then? We all want to live longer, happier lives, but what are we supposed to do? Is an atheist supposed to start going to church, to gain the supposed benefits of a belief he doesn’t share? > > It’s about as easy for a person of a generally pessimistic bent to decide to become an optimist as it would be for Richard Dawkins to will himself to be a Christian. This has always been part of my father’s belief system… He has been profoundly atheist for as long as I can remember, but has always espoused going to church as a way to temporarily delude yourself into happiness and meet decent human beings. He just treats it as meditation and takes the positive. (he doesn’t go to catholic or rabidly protestant churches, obviously) Fake it til you make it, as it were > [@MacTech](#): > > I like “Murphy’s statement on the power of negative thinking” myself; > > “It is impossible for an optimist to be pleasantly surprised” > [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Optimists may live longer, but only optimists think that’s a good thing. One of the things I like most on this board is that whether folks are making a statement of fact or spitting sarcasm, I can often not tell, and enjoy either way. > [@GameHat](#): > > Pessimists are rarely dissapointed. > > I speak from experience. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst- then you are clear through every situation, with a smile. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602/24 "2009-03-08T13:51:00Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > So, life can be nasty and brutal and dangerous and people who may or may not be smarter than you or have your best interest at heart or give a rats behind about you may control your life. > > Seems pretty damn obvious to me as to why that would be depressing. Depressive realism is a controversial subject with evidence both for and against… and it seems it only has a real effect when the individual is confronted with a situation he cannot control at all. When the degree of control is varied, depressed people predict that they have less control than they actually do, while optimistic people think they have more. The human population in general tends to have a positively warped perception of itself… most people consider themselves above average drivers, above average at their jobs, etc. So in a way human perception, whether optimistic or pessimistic, is not rational. The question is what kind of irrational you prefer to be. The problem for pessimistic people is when they extrapolate their lack of control in one context to other situations where they have control, and decide they don’t have any when they actually do. That’s called learned helplessness and is probably not worth the relatively small advantage of depressive realism. (Pessimistic thinking can be beneficial for certain careers, where being wrong would be catastrophic… say the military or NASA, but even for those folks, there’s no reason it should be a pervasive part of every day life undermining every good thing that happens to them.) My husband has a billionaire uncle who grew up impoverished. Every time we run into him, he grabs me by the shoulder and says, ‘‘Look. You’re either going to be poor and miserable or you’re going to be rich and miserable. Either way, you’re going to be miserable, so you might as well be rich.’’ I sort of look at optimism the same way. Either way you’re going to be irrational so you might as well be an optimist! ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602/25 "2009-03-08T17:07:40Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Pessimists are rarely dissapointed. > > I speak from experience. In a way, you’re right. If you keep your expectations very low, you’ll either be satisfied when the expectations are met or delighted when they are exceeded. Not sure whether that’s pure pessimism though… maybe “Optimistic Pessimism” is the proper term as long as you don’t let the negativity interfere with making a proper effort. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/optimist-vs-pessimists/488602.md?page=1)