Optimism vs. Pessimism

[Gypsy]

[quote="Vyse"]Gypsy! Do no speak of such evil on this site again ]


Mary Poppins was cool! Spoon full of sugar and all that.

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote="pilosw

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote="Gy

[Gypsy]

witch

Know what I say to that?

"Ooooooh .... [font=Verdana][size=84] supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

*looks around*

Uh, sorry, back on topic. Optimism or pessimism?
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[shadowblade]

I'm not really sure which I am. I guess I'm an optimist in some ways; I hope for a lot, I wish for the best, but at the same time, I also try to be ready in case something does go wrong, ya know? One of my friends called me 'happily pessimistic'. Lol. She said that I sometimes expect bad things to happen, but that I don't let it really phase me. I just smile and move on. Lol. I think it's a lot better to be optimistic. Life is tough, but why let yourself get dragged down by it, ya know?

[Zedian]

I'm neither since it depends on how I'm feeling and what kind of events happen during the course of the day. I wake up in the morning with a neutral attitude and well it bad things happen I get down whereas if things go well I get up and happy.

My mind is somewhat programmable in a way.....uh yeah.

[Scribs]

so tell me then? who benefited more? YOU who sat there and got nothing out of it, or bill who had faith and hope and got to drink somthing, at least he got somthing out of it, while you didn't. bill IS happier than you, his thirst is quinched. he took the oppertunity while you missed out and got nothing. If he drinks the glass and now has nothing and you didn't drink anything to begin with. then you both NOW have nothing but Bill got more out of it than you did anyway.

Ah, actually I said that the pessimist would drink the glass nise and slow as to savor what little there was, he didn't just sit there. He assesed the situation and acted accordingly

And as for Mary Poppins... *Breaks into a chorus of chim chiminy chim chiminy chim chim charoo* Oops! excuse me. back to the topic we go.

Just because I am pessimistic about future events, dosn't meen that I don't look back with thanks and joy at good events that have taken place in the past.

[Spirit_Wolf8356]

I tend more toward optimism, but I do look at the pessimistic view too...I don't know where that puts me.

[Hitokiri]

I rarely find hope in anything and usually I don't look foward in much matters. So i'm pessimistic.

But the question is..is it wrong for a Christian to be pessimistic?

[Raskle]

ehh. I don't know how I generally face things, but optomism is the way to go. My friend Brian smiles all the time and I'd say that's better than being resolved on a negative situation. My mom often tells me worst-case scenarios, and I don't appreciate it... that sort of thing has its place, but I don't think it's for me.

[Link Antilles]

It really depends on the subject matter for me, but most of the time I'm optimistic and a little laid-back.

[The_Marauding_Maniac]

Woohoo! The glass is fill with water AND air? Who could be happier?
No seriously, If you look down, all you ever see is the ground, and you will never look up unless the wind blows upwards or it stars raining. However everything bad will lead to something good. If you get sick, you will get excused from work or school. If you have homework, teachers are doing their job correctly. You can prepare for the worst without being pessimistic, and vice versa

[water-bearer]

Oddly enough, I'd have to say I'm a bit of both. I opt to hope for the best and be prepared for the worst if that makes any sense. Exe. There's a glass of water with half the capacity it can hold sitting there. My view: That glass of water has the potential to quench my thirst even if it isn't full, therefore I should make the best of that glass of water because I have it and if needed conserve it so that I still have some water to live off of. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but that's pretty much how I see it. Perhaps as UC mentioned, I'm a small bit realist as well.. it's kinda crazy. ^.^

-The Water-bearer

[Little T-chan]

Ideas like these always get me up in a tangle...but I'm sure the glass of orange juice is half full!!!!!! Because I don't really pay attention to the part of the glass that has no juice cuz that's not yummy...so my eyes are drawn to the part of the glass that has orange juice =9 and so I consider the glass half full!!!! Actually, I don't like to contribute my ideas on things like this because I usually find that my ideas are crazily immature and really selfish. So I feel bad. =_= But anyway, I am probably optimistic but maybe that's only my view of myself??? ^^;;

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote="pilos

[uc pseudonym]

My friend Brian smiles all the time and I'd say that's better than being resolved on a negative situation...

The thing is, those two aren't mutually exclusive. It's completely possible to be resolved on a negative situation and be cheerful and laid back about it.

[Mave]

I am an optimistic person because of my faith. I think that pessimism isn't something a Christian should have, but hey, that's just my opinion.

In my eyes, there is absolutely nothing wrong with anticipating 'worst case scenarios' or preparing for something to go wrong. Preparing for the worst does not mean you're pessimistic. It's part of planning ahead and in life, you'll find that it's good practice because things just don't always go 'right'. Two years in graduate school has trained me to never expect everything to go your way and to always prepare for Plan B or C.

Do you see the difference?

I'm living with the expectations that things will go well but I'm ready if it doesn't. I am thankful in both situations because whatever happens is part of God's plan and He will carry me through it. There is hope in everything I do. God is the expert in producing something good out of anything. We need to remember that whatever we don't want to happen is not necessarily 'bad'.

Pessimism, from what I understand, encourages you to think that you're of no worth in anyone's eyes and that there's nothing good in life....which is not true and should not affect you unless you believe that God cannot do any good through you.

[Scribs]

Oof! Lots of people seem to be saying things along the line of "if you are a christian you shouldn't be a pessimist" I think that this type of statement is not true (obviouslyI dissagree; I myself am a christian and also a pessimist) Just because a person is a pessimist dosn't meen that they can't see the good in a situation, or that they are unpleasant to be around, and it certainly dosn't meen that they think they have no worth! They simply anticipate that things will go diferently thatn they would like, and deal with it. I am quite aware that there may be different kinds of pessimists out there but the type I described is the type that I am.

There is a common type of flaw in reasoning in which we believe that there are only two answers for a certain problem, while in reality there is a large grey area in between. I think that this may be just that type of situation. I dought that any of us are pure pessimists or pure optimists; I think we probably all fall into that grey area in between.

But this is a fun topic of discussion isn't it.

[Hitokiri]

I guess it all goes down to how you are as a person.

I'm a relitavely calm, serious, sometimes boring, not wanting to have fun type person. I tend to always think of a situation on a downside. That's just how I am.

more imporantly I'm a Christian. Though I guess (which people had said is bad and maybe it is) but I have a fatalistic approach to many things.

Hey it happens, it happens. But also God allowed it to happen...I guess that goes with pessimitic.

I'm opitmisitic on some things but only important issues (like school and my work). But on most everday issues, I'm pessimistic. I guess that's how I'm programmed.

[Scribs]

I think Hitokiri has got this pessimism thing down pretty well.

Give that man a Cookie!

[cbwing0]

They simply anticipate that things will go diferently thatn they would like, and deal with it.

If that is the definition of a pessimist, then I would hope that we are all pessimists.

A pessimist not only anticipates bad situations, but expects that they will happen in the vast majority of instances. Simply realizing that a choice could have a bad outcome is not pessimism, just common sense.

[Scribs]

Perhaps there is a little more to pessimism than that

[Kaligraphic]

My friend Brian smiles all the time and I'd say that's better than being resolved on a negative situation.

Is his last name Seta? And does he have a brother named Soujiro? If so, that's not necessarily optimism at work.

An optimist and a pessimist can both walk into a fancy restaurant without a cent in their pocket, order oysters, and expect to find a pearl. The difference is that the optimist expects to use the pearl to pay for the meal, while the pessimist expects to choke on it. The realist expects to get free food because he owns the restaurant.

An optimist says "the glass is half full"
A pessimist says "the glass is half empty"
An engineer says "the glass is twice as big as it needs to be"

[uc pseudonym]

If that is the definition of a pessimist, then I would hope that we are all pessimists.

A pessimist not only anticipates bad situations, but expects that they will happen in the vast majority of instances. Simply realizing that a choice could have a bad outcome is not pessimism, just common sense.

Common sense cannot always be assumed. But this brings to mind something else.

It seems to me that both groups define both states in different ways. The optomists define optomism as hope in God, and pessimism as despair; the pessimists define pessimism as realism and optomism as cbwing0 put it: lack of common sense. I do not intend to claim this covers everyone who has posted here, nor that it has been stated directly, but this strikes me as a general tendancy.

From this, I would think that perhaps we are all more alike than we might suspect, depending on how we define terms.

[cbwing0]

[quote="uc pseudonym"]The optomists define optomism as hope in God, and pessimism as despair]
For the record, I was not implying that optimism is a lack of common sense (although I don't think that you were either). Just as a pessimist expects the worst, an optimist expects the best out of most situations.