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Maybe optimism is profitable on an individual basis. But at the collective level, I am not sure it is such a good idea. Anyway, not being optimistic does not me
by boyadjian 7y ago
Maybe optimism is profitable on an individual basis. But at the collective level, I am not sure it is such a good idea. Anyway, not being optimistic does not mean you must be pessimistic : We just have to be realistic. That mean, accepting the world for what it is, and not what we want it to be.
- fortran77 7y agoI know a lot of optimists who aren't realistic. But they're happy and tend to be successful. It's a principle among the Hasidim, too. The followers of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov believe that we should feel commanded to be happy at all times: https://breslov.org/1366/ https://breslov.org/1366/
- thinkingemote 7y agoBeing realistic is not an alternative to optimism or pessimism though. A pessimist cynic will say "that's just the way it is" for example. Additionally pessimism and optimism are mainly about thinking about the future rather than objective state of now. Perhaps it's stocism that's a more fitting alternative.
- Zod666 7y agoI haven't read the article yet but I've heard stats like this before. Is it simply the effect of a positive emotional state? When my friend and I were talking about this I said: 'Be happy. Or else.'
- WilliamEdward 7y agoBeing optimistic and realistic will always be better than just being realistic. The two aren't at odds and having things to look forward to is what separates the miserable from the successful.
- drusepth 7y agoThiel has a good chapter on dichotomizing optimism/pessimism as it relates to building the future in his Zero to One book. Someone else can probably quote it better, but it basically boils down adding a definite/indefinite qualifier also. He posits: - Definite pessimists have a concrete negative potential future in mind and often work to subjugate it - Indefinite pessimists have a vague "the future looks negative" and don't act on concrete plans to improve it - Definite optimists have a concrete positive potential future in mind and often work to make it a reality - Indefinite optimists often have a vague "everything will be fine" mindset and rely on others to make that a reality On a general sense, I'd wager that both optimists and negatives are a good idea to have at the collective level, as both are driven by similar but different motivations. I'd say it's the definite subsets of each group that are "realistic" and "useful" as it pertains to the future, rather than either larger group as a whole.
- 15__characters 7y ago> accepting the world for what it is That's impossible for anyone in the world. A pessimist and an optimist will probably consider various interpretations as realistic, yet neither will see the world "as it is". Even just the idea of the world as something that can be seen, thought of, considered, described etc. is squeezing it through a very human-shaped filter, and what you get out of the other end is always more about us than about the world.