The Wisdom of Pessimism - two minute video

[IrishSpring600]

I'm not sure how to feel about this. They talk about expecting the worst and being the smallest amount of happy as possible. Yet, it makes so much logical sense because you're able to look at things objectively. What am I missing?

 

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[HoneyBadger]

I prefer the concepts of Stoicism/Buddhism when it comes to emotions. Stay stable and balanced and don't let situations and scenarios dictate how you feel.

I personally feel the video reached hard when it said Buddhism/Christianity were at all supporting the idea of being pessimistic. They don't teach you to expect the worst (from any of my readings), they just state humans are imperfect (Christianity) and life is hard (Buddhism).

I am going to go out on a limb and say there is a better middle ground between being a pessimist and being an optimist - and that is being a realist. Act for the sake of acting and not for the reaction. See things for how they are and don't build things up to always be positive or always be negative. If you do you will either be constantly let down or live constantly down.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[ApparentHorizon]

As the saying goes, expect the best, but plan for the worst.

 

[Maxjohan]

Pessimistic about what exactly which envolves business??? Once again it's some general fluff lacking all the details and tangibility. On top of this, you can't just change your personality by pulling a switch.

 

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[HoneyBadger]

Pessimistic about what exactly which envolves business??? Once again it's some general fluff lacking all the details and tangibility. On top of this, you can't just change your personality by pulling a switch.

You always get the counterculture crew that thinks taking the opposite approach of mainstream is cool - not realizing they don't always have to be black or white. If we look at one definition of pessimism it is:

• a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen; a lack of hope or confidence in the future

The video is fluff and mostly clickbait as I described in my post.
If you were replying to JScott instead, understand he really described almost to the tee a realist approach to life and its challenges but just called it pessimism. Notice he said a 'smart pessimist' know success is possible just that is harder than most would think. A true pessimist following the above definition would see the worst possible situation and assume there is no chance of success. Just preparing yourself that something may go rough and not thinking it will go well automatically doesn't make you a pessimist you are just using your knowledge of realty to make a realistic prediction/analysis of the chances of something going your way and preparing yourself based on that.

For example, if you asked someone if tomorrow they could become an elephant and they said "no" - just because no has a negative connotation doesn't make them a pessimist. They are just being a realist.

Unfortunately, most pessimistic people decide that success is unachievable (they are pessimistic), so they don't try. But, a smart pessimist recognizes that success is very achievable, it's just harder than most people think -- so they work harder/smarter to achieve it.

 

[Maxjohan]

If you were replying to JScott instead, understand he really described almost to the tee a realist approach to life and its challenges but just called it pessimism.

No. Didn't reply to JScott. Why do you think that. I was speaking about the video. I think JScotts post was more than fine. Especially, the last four lines cleared up a few things.

 

[michalo]

in my opinion the only question is who is happier - pessimist or optimist? I have meet a lot of unhappy pessimist but l have never meet unhappy optimist. Hey after all happiness is what counts right?

I give you two examples after bad deal.

Pessimist: "I knew from beginning that it won't work out" (feeling really miserable) .

Optimist: "well, tomorrow I can probably make better deal".

I'm trying to convert myself into optimist but it's so complicated.

BTW: being optimist and believing that everything work fine at the end during the deal let's say 5 years and even if not than didn't care is much nicer that living in fear this 5 years even when at the end it works fine... Just saying...

 

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[michalo]

I've met hundreds of them. They're called dreamers. Many of them are like some of the wannabe entrepreneurs who should up here talking about how they just dropped out of college, started an affiliate marketing business and are going to make a billion dollars and buy a warehouse full of exotic cars. Two years later, they are still here complaining about how they finally got their business entity set up and printed their business cards, but still don't have any income. But, they're confident that if they keep on the same trajectory, they're going to hit that billion dollars very soon.

Those types of people tend to be very optimistic about their chances for success, but not very happy day-to-day.

As someone who has worked with and mentored hundreds of wannabe real estate investors, I see these type of optimistic -- yet unhappy -- people every day...

oh ok. As I said I have never met them. The only "wannabe" that I meet are really fully pessimistic like "I would start company but...." and honestly speaking it's better to be optimistic looser than pesimistic right? You are saying that you have met optimistic unhappy people but as far as I know english

"The term is originally derived from the Latin optimum, meaning "best". Being optimistic, in the typical sense of the word, is defined as expecting the best possible outcome from any given situation. This is usually referred to in psychology as dispositional optimism. It thus reflects a belief that future conditions will work out for the best."

how can you even expect "best" and feel unhappy every day? Or they are just saying that they are "optimistic" but it'S full of BS. Either I & wikipedia understand this world false or you - no other way right?

 

[Ninjakid]

Lol I just watched the video, and I'm quite certain that it's meant to be a parody. I could feel a lot of sarcasm, and it was done quite brilliantly.

 

[IrishSpring600]

I thought of a quote "have faith in the future". It's better to say to "have faith in your actions", because that's what you can control.

Lol I just watched the video, and I'm quite certain that it's meant to be a parody. I could feel a lot of sarcasm, and it was done quite brilliantly.

Luckily it's unearthed the viewpoint of looking at things objectively. Having fantastic visions is great; make the visions concrete.

P.s. If the visions are attempted to be concrete but fail, that's just the way it is. A pessimist will look at it as a pile of rubbish (realistic). Doesn't mean there isn't another way.

 

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[Ninjakid]

I thought of a quote "have faith in the future". It's better to say to "have faith in your actions", because that's what you can control.


Luckily it's unearthed the viewpoint of looking at things objectively. Having fantastic visions is great; make the visions concrete.

P.s. If the visions are attempted to be concrete but fail, that's just the way it is. A pessimist will look at it as a pile of rubbish (realistic). Doesn't mean there isn't another way.

Neither objectivism nor pessimism are truth, both of them are perceptions. Every perception is a lens from which you view the world.

A pessimist upholds certain views to keep their role as a pessimist.

An objectivist will uphold his views in order to declare himself an objectivist.

If you have to hold onto a perspective, chose the one which makes your life better.

 

[michalo]

You bring up a great point. And, upon reflection, I realize that I didn't think about this enough before I responded, and now that I think about it some more, I'd probably want to rewrite my original answer (not necessarily change it, but rewrite it). I still stand by what I said, but I may be using terms differently than other people, and I can definitely see how others would disagree (and if I was using the terms they were, I'd probably disagree as well )

Anyway, here are some basic thoughts to try to capture the nuance I'm talking about...

Some people are naturally optimistic -- that means that they always see and expect the best in every situation. Other people aren't overall optimistic, but when it comes to some part of their lives -- in this case, I'm talking about business outcomes -- they always assume an optimistic perspective. The difference is general outlook on life versus expectations for specific events.

For someone who is generally optimistic (have an optimistic outlook on life), they probably do feel happier than the average person on a daily basis. This is probably the definition you're using, and given that definition, I agree with you. People who are generally optimistic about life probably do tend to be a lot happier than people who are not as optimistic.

That said, I was specifically referring to people who tend to have an optimistic view of the success of their future business endeavors, regardless of their general outlook on life. I probably should have said that I know hundreds of people who aren't generally optimistic about life (they don't necessarily see the bright side of everything), but who tend to be overly optimistic about the outcomes for their business endeavors. Those people tend to be less happy when they fail or struggle because they are unprepared for it.

Honestly, I don't know too many generally optimistic people who are tremendously successful at business. I'm not saying that they aren't out there, but most of the people I meet who are successful in business have a tremendously pragmatic/realistic view of the world. When it comes to business, they tend to have either realistic or pessimistic views of likely business outcomes.

I apologize if I didn't explain that well. Generally speaking, my not being able to explain something well means I don't understand it well enough and/or haven't thought about it enough. Definitely the case here...

Hi JScoot first of all in my opinion you are not really comparing optimistic vs. pessimistic people. The people that you are writing about are just delusional. Delusional looser that're hoping that just by starting company they will be millionaires without work... F* idiots. You know dreams without executions just dreams... A lot of dream. Now really comparing optimistic vs. pessimistic I think that optimist are ALWAYS in better position. Why? Because - in my opinion - they are more persistent. Trying more times and as far as they are smart trying more times with different strategies always better than trying once or twice. Honestly speaking I don't know many optimistic people but I have heard about few. PRobably you know them too than just read further:

- Walt Disney - well starting how many companies after failure? 3 times? 4 times? Do you really think that pessimist could do this? Probably not...

- Elon Musk - living in 4m2 and eating sh*... his company was almost broken. Most people would take money and run. You really have to be a lot of optimistic hope to do what he has done.

- Edison - how many times he tried to make light bulb... this kind of persistent you can never connect with pessimismus

and a lot of people. You can't really connect "never give up" with pessimismus you know:

Pessimism is a state of mind in which one anticipates undesirable outcomes or believes that the evil or hardships in life outweigh the good or luxuries.

Pessimismus is bringing you down like stone to your foot. The funny is that nowadays people saying that they are "Realist" (whatever that is) are really pessimist.

Other said to be successful you have to risk. To risk you have to be optimist - at least concerning you company. Otherwise after one failure you will break. I'm in this matter and I want to stretch it to other areas of my life - really difficult.

Cheers.

 

[luniac]

I'm into Absurdism - Reality is often absurd but you should still do the best you can
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

 

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