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> back when living in the wild I would assume that more pessimistic worldview would be associated with higher survival rate There is plenty of research that sh
by bambax 6y ago
> back when living in the wild I would assume that more pessimistic worldview would be associated with higher survival rate
There is plenty of research that shows the opposite: only the optimists survive, and the harsher the environment, the truer this gets.
Pessimists tend to give up, optimists see opportunities others miss (within reason of course).
- comboy 6y agoPessimist may have been a wrong word. Maybe something along the lines of anxiety that can make you miserable in today's safe environment but could make you think more about potential problems and prepare for them ahead of time. Like "I need to have more food for winter" vs "It's going to be fine, it's such a nice day today".
- raducu 6y agoYou are both on to something. Optimists are more likely to survive situations that are survivable given their lack of planning. Pesimists are more likely to survive by planning around crysises and avoiding them. There can be selection bias in both cases, and that's why we still have both.
- bencollier49 6y agoI blogged about this recently. There's been a recent trend to fetishize optimism in companies. "Pessimists Are Welcome To Apply" https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pessimists-welcome-apply-ben-collier https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pessimists-welcome-apply-ben-...