Pessimism

[Suraru]

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

Ok, So I had a heart attack the other day, and everyone is being pessimistic and preparing for the worst... I mean really?

I mean, its totally not like failure could mean I'm fucking dead or anything..... god dammit -.-

So ya, read my sig,

You have two options,
(Optimism) A. Have a chance at winning.
(Pessimism) B. Fail

If everyone is pessimistic, then how do they expect me to survive? I would rather have a chance then just give up, its been two days and nothing else has happened, I'm sure I'll be fine so don't you guys go pessimistic on me also.

Enough of my drama bullshit, here is a thread on pessimism, and how to combat it so you'll stay happy and have a higher chance for success.

Comments or suggestions?


Answer, Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

Best solution.

[GoRepeat]

Our optimistic ancestors were the ones who got eaten by saber tooth tigers. The pessimistic ones survived to breed you. Be a little grateful!

[Gorbaz]

I always thaught it was the pessamistic ones who thaught "what's the point?", and stood still in the path of said saber-toothed animals, while the optomistic ones believed that everything would be alright if they ran away, or made weapons - so they did

[Suraru]

Gorepete..... what?

The pessimistic ones would just give up in front of a tiger.... however optimistic ones would find themselves in front of a tiger more often............

[GoRepeat]

Was just a joke, geez, try not to be so pessimistic!

[Suraru]

Lol

[Zeus Kabob]

Waaaaaaa!

Optimism: Hoping for the best.
Pessimism: Hoping for the worst.
Apathy: The state of having no motivation towards action.
Naivete: [adj] Having a lack of common sense regarding realistic happenings.

I think you guys are using your terms wrong. Pessimism =/= Apathy, Optimism =/= naivete, etc.

The ones who died were the ones who were naive, the ones who survived were critical thinkers. The neanderthals had a lesser developed frontal lobe, reducing their ability to think critically about cause and effect. They were also lacking in the ability to think about the future and interact properly with others. The combination of these shortcomings caused their downfall.

[Mr D]

So tha naive people have to die becouse of natural selection.......that is so depressing .....

[Spartan5015]

don't be so pessimistic Mr D! isn't this a thread on anti-pessimism?

[Zeus Kabob]

Mr. D:
The one's who were "naive" (didn't understand the relationship between cause and effect) died. The optimists didn't. I say that naivete is a problem, and it's good to be learned about many things. On the other hand, the opposite of naivety is not cynicism, so it's not necessary to be a cynic in order not to be naive.

[Mr D]

I just noticed something. You said that pessimism is hoping for the worst. How can someone be hoping for the worst, if hoping is something positiva. You know as "hope".
And the thread should be renamed to "fight pessimism" or something like that. The name is is a bit misleading

[Spartan5015]

hah.

Fight pessimism!! Rid the world of its oppression!!

[Suraru]

Its more of a general discussion of pessimism, not really about fighting it.
I'm sure somewhere sun tzu said "know your enemy"

But ya, its more about talking about pessimism so we can fight it XD

[Gorbaz]

Using the glass of water analogy, an optimist sees the glass as being half full, and generally hopes for the best, but a pessamist sees it is being half empty, and assumes the worst.

As Garak once said "I always hope for the best. Experience, unfortunatly, has taught me to expect the worst"

[Spartan5015]

I personally am a realist. If the glass started full, and drains, its half empty. If the glass started empty, and is filling up, its half full. If I don't know where it started, it's just "in the middle"

[Zeus Kabob]

^this.

That's the same way I think of the half full/half empty.

As for "hope for the worst", a pessimist uses their pessimism as a crutch to avoid having to work towards positive benefit. In this way, if things were working out well, they'd have no excuse to fall back on for their failure. As such, they "hope for the worst".

A cynic is the one who hopes for the best and expects the worst (if I'm using my words correctly).

Does that make any sense? The pessimist is the one I'm defining as one who uses "bad circumstances" as an excuse for failure.

[Thaedael]

Enough with the drama pessimism etc. Make a tread on optimism instead, where in everyday someone posts something good that happened. If you are afraid of dying, keel over and die. Everyone of us could stop and think the millions of ways we may die in one day, and that's energy better spend doing something you enjoy, or something productive. I have a group project worth 80% of my mark, my group mates never work. Instead of sitting around complaining and worrying, I am just getting it done. I have exams this week that I only had a few hours to study 5 weeks of material. Instead of sitting around and despairing I am studying best I can, and mitigate my marks in a mathematically point of view.

So you may die tomorrow? Then live today like you are dying tomorrow, enjoy the smaller pleasures you took for granted, a cup of tea, call a cherished friend, fuck knowing half of you guys on LoK masturbate your worries away.

Plain and simple pessimism focuses on the worst of everything.
Optimism focuses on the best of everything.

Difference? One tend to looks forward with pragmatism, the other backwards with dogmatism. As long as you are alive you can change things

[Suraru]

Being cynical just meas you don't believe humans do nice things without a reason. I am cynical

@thaedael,
True lol

[Reena]

I don't see the point of pessimism. It's all just so pointless, I mean what good does it do anyone? Pessimism sucks, and has never done anything good for anyone.

((=D Fight fire with fire, am I right?))

[fould12]

If you are afraid of dying, keel over and die.

If you're afraid of dying, find a way to prevent yourself from dying.