Even if you haven’t read Anna Karenina, you will be familiar with Leo Tolstoy’s quote that “all happy families are alike, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Seems like Tolstoy was way ahead of his time, given recent findings in neuroscience.
Well there are studies in psychology that show that the only people with a realistic assessment of probabilities for different scenarios are the clinically depressed...
I don't even understand the concept. Most people I know are a mix of both optimism and pessimism. As in, "most of life is meaningful with plenty of episodes of joy, but the last few months are likely extremely rough, and nobody is getting outta here alive."
I know a few perma-cheers who feel like they're turning every difficult scenario into a tabu, but there's something weird and off about them. Likewise, "the end is nigh" folks give off an alien vibe. But I can't even say what camp I'm in.
It's a pity they didn't share the death-related questions to the pessimists to find out how many of them then went on to commit suicide. Draining the gene pool of pessimists can only be a good thing, no?
Wrong. Pessimists are needed to keep the optimist from killing themselves because they think they can win in a fight against the tiger, colonise MArs or some other harebrained idea.
Ahh, touche'; then I would say optimists need realists. Yes, some optimists are deluded and don't know the difference between fantasy and reality!;-) But pessimist are 'it's all hell in a handbasket' and what's the point.
A colleague several years ago said that pessimists are just optimists, only with better information
Well there are studies in psychology that show that the only people with a realistic assessment of probabilities for different scenarios are the clinically depressed...
i would make an exception for the great mass of confidence men in finance and politics. they would be either optimists or realists....its in the name.
I don't even understand the concept. Most people I know are a mix of both optimism and pessimism. As in, "most of life is meaningful with plenty of episodes of joy, but the last few months are likely extremely rough, and nobody is getting outta here alive."
I know a few perma-cheers who feel like they're turning every difficult scenario into a tabu, but there's something weird and off about them. Likewise, "the end is nigh" folks give off an alien vibe. But I can't even say what camp I'm in.
I assume you are a boring optimist, JK. No?
Are you dreaming? I am a permanently depressed realist, as every German 😂
Lol
It's a pity they didn't share the death-related questions to the pessimists to find out how many of them then went on to commit suicide. Draining the gene pool of pessimists can only be a good thing, no?
Wrong. Pessimists are needed to keep the optimist from killing themselves because they think they can win in a fight against the tiger, colonise MArs or some other harebrained idea.
Ahh, touche'; then I would say optimists need realists. Yes, some optimists are deluded and don't know the difference between fantasy and reality!;-) But pessimist are 'it's all hell in a handbasket' and what's the point.