Page 1 of 1 [ 13 posts ] 

greyasp
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 20 Aug 2012
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 20

30 Jul 2020, 1:46 pm

I've been having some trouble lately with being a pessimist.
I try to keep a positive outlook in life but I've noticed patterns in the world and people around me.
These patterns almost always go as predicted. Because I've seen the same thing happening over and over again.
When I see this happening is it pessimism to call it like I've seen it and it has occurred.
Or is it realistic.
I'm probably explaining this very badly.
I'm not in a position to effect change in 99% of the things around me.


_________________
I don't suffer from insanity.. I enjoy every minute of it!

Lately I've been hard to reach, I've been too long on my own, everybody has a private world, where they can be alone.


magz
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jun 2017
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 16,283
Location: Poland

30 Jul 2020, 2:11 pm

Bad things do happen.
Good things do happen.
Realism is an ability to acknowledge both. Serenity prayer: improve what can be improved, accept what can't be improved and know the difference.


_________________
Let's not confuse being normal with being mentally healthy.

<not moderating PPR stuff concerning East Europe>


Feyokien
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 16 Dec 2014
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 7,303
Location: The Northern Waste

30 Jul 2020, 2:13 pm

I pulled this quote from a sketchy website, but the quote still stands:

Quote:
Pessimism involves looking at the world in a way that emphasizes negativity, whereas, realism is more about truth and objectivity — not necessarily seeing a situation as bad, just seeing it as something to be dealt with.



RadioDog
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2020
Gender: Female
Posts: 81
Location: Ionospheric F layer

05 Aug 2020, 6:40 pm

Pessimism vs Realism is like Movement vs Action.

Pessimism wallows and wades around in the muck, but doesn't really accomplish much. "I'm up to my hips in ****, and it's just everywhere!"

Realism acknowledges what's actually there and happening, but takes action. "I'm currently up to my hips in ****, but since I can't see past the fence I have no idea how far it actually goes. I'm going to figure out how to slog over there and take a look. Then I will have more data to make my next decision."

My personal philosophy / action mantra is:

"The World is crap. How can I have a happy life anyway?" And then I act on that :)


_________________
Professionally diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder.

"Autism isn't an illness but it's a condition that messes with our ability to have our psychological needs met." - DuckHairback on this site.


robotrecall
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

Joined: 9 Sep 2020
Gender: Female
Posts: 96
Location: In a floating candy house with a flying pet unicorn

09 Sep 2020, 6:39 pm

Pessimism is thinking "everything that could go wrong, will go wrong" It's usually everything=bad. Realism just accepts that bad and good things happen. Most people that are pessimistic either claim they're realists or acknowledge that they're pessimists. Either way, just stay away from pessimistic people, because they suck the life out of you.



uncommondenominator
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Aug 2019
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,334

28 Sep 2020, 2:43 am

Most lives are a mix of good and bad. Sometimes more good happens, sometimes more bad happens, but overall it's generally a mix, even if biased to one side or the other. An optimist sees the good more than the bad, even though both happen, even if more bad may happen than good. A pessimist sees more bad than good, even though they both happen, even if more good happens than bad. A realist sees the good and the bad as they are, and is neither consumed by the negative nor blinded by the positive.

The tricky part is - some people have unreasonably high expectations of the world, and when these expectations are consistently unmet, life gets labeled as "bad" - and some people have little or no expectation, and anything at all is better than nothing, and life is fine as long as it's not as bad as it could be.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,792
Location: Stendec

28 Sep 2020, 8:42 am

An optimist sees the glass as half-full.

A pessimist sees the glass as half-empty.

A realist is not concerned with how much is in the glass; but only if the contents are good to drink.


_________________
 
I have no love for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Leadership, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups, OR their supporters and sympathizers.


nick007
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,619
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic military dictatorship called USA

28 Sep 2020, 10:06 am

Fnord wrote:
An optimist sees the glass as half-full.

A pessimist sees the glass as half-empty.

A realist is not concerned with how much is in the glass; but only if the contents are good to drink.
I like that.

What does it mean if you hope for the best but experience has taught you to expect the worst :?: It's kinda like that saying, "hope for the best but prepare for the worst". Is that realism :?:


_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
~King Of The Hill


"Hear all, trust nothing"
~Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #190
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ru ... cquisition


Mountain Goat
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 13 May 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 14,730
Location: .

28 Sep 2020, 10:38 am

Pessimism needs a train set. Realism already has one.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,792
Location: Stendec

28 Sep 2020, 10:45 am

nick007 wrote:
Fnord wrote:
An optimist sees the glass as half-full.

A pessimist sees the glass as half-empty.

A realist is not concerned with how much is in the glass; but only if the contents are good to drink.
I like that.

What does it mean if you hope for the best but experience has taught you to expect the worst :?: It's kinda like that saying, "hope for the best but prepare for the worst". Is that realism :?:
That is wisdom.


_________________
 
I have no love for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Leadership, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups, OR their supporters and sympathizers.


shortfatbalduglyman
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Mar 2017
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 10,307

28 Sep 2020, 3:49 pm

Splitting fine hairs

Dictionary definition

One event could be good for someone and bad for someone else

7 billion population

You can't measure the quality

Anyone could correctly say anything is good or bad



MrsPeel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Oct 2017
Age: 53
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 1,830
Location: Australia

03 Oct 2020, 10:44 pm

I feel like there's an expectation in modern society that one is supposed to present a facade of optimism.
It always seems like my realism gets mistaken for pessimism, if I dare to suggest that something less than optimal might happen.
It's like realism is is fine as long as it favours good results, but as soon as one suggests a possible negative outcome one is labelled a pessimist.



nick007
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 May 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 27,619
Location: was Louisiana but now Vermont in capitalistic military dictatorship called USA

04 Oct 2020, 9:18 am

MrsPeel wrote:
I feel like there's an expectation in modern society that one is supposed to present a facade of optimism.
It always seems like my realism gets mistaken for pessimism, if I dare to suggest that something less than optimal might happen.
It's like realism is is fine as long as it favours good results, but as soon as one suggests a possible negative outcome one is labelled a pessimist.
I think it's realism if you try your best for a good result but don't expect it to happen. Like if there is an election & you live in an area where most people have oposit political opinions to you & you still decide to vote instead of completely giving up on the process & not even trying.


_________________
"I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem!"
~King Of The Hill


"Hear all, trust nothing"
~Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #190
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ru ... cquisition