Are You An Optimist or Pessimist?

What people often refer to as reality, another person once called the non-negotiables in life.
These are things that can only be handled in one way and usually its not an easy way.

So what mankind has come up with to help people through the non-negotiables is optimism or positive thinking.

Statistics have proven that optimists are wrong 50% of the time in their evaluation of things and that pessimists are nearly 100% accurate in their assessment,

However, optimists are risk takers and can accomplish more because they take action and deal with the results as they encounter them.

I'm not a risk taker so I will have to conclude that I'm a pessimist.
 

OldFeller said:
What people often refer to as reality, another person once called the non-negotiables in life.
These are things that can only be handled in one way and usually its not an easy way.

So what mankind has come up with to help people through the non-negotiables is optimism or positive thinking.

Statistics have proven that optimists are wrong 50% of the time in their evaluation of things and that pessimists are nearly 100% accurate in their assessment,

However, optimists are risk takers and can accomplish more because they take action and deal with the results as they encounter them.

I'm not a risk taker so I will have to conclude that I'm a pessimist.
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Statistics can be skewed toward either side. So, I don't put much stock in them. I agree with an earlier comment = we wake up and decide what kind of day it is going to be. I choose positive and am optimistic. Another can choose the opposite. We could even have the EXACT SAME day - in a hypothetical world - and one would complain about how bad things were, while the other talked of goodness.
 

The modern technological world and our lives are very complex. I tend to view many things as variable with probabilities and tendencies, so not black and whites absolutes that so many IMO unwisely do. Accordingly whatever depends on specifics. Am certain the OP say if a gambler was ever optimistic about winning a lottery or pessimistic about finding fresh Russet potatoes still in stock at their favorite supermarket.
 
Who_so_ever said:
Statistics can be skewed toward either side. So, I don't put much stock in them. I agree with an earlier comment = we wake up and decide what kind of day it is going to be. I choose positive and am optimistic. Another can choose the opposite. We could even have the EXACT SAME day - in a hypothetical world - and one would complain about how bad things were, while the other talked of goodness.
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I didn't consider that pessimists are complainers. I would have just described those people as depressed.
The statistics I stated are from a book called Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life.
There were psychological studies done and the results of testing showed those statistical results.
 
David777 said:
Am certain the OP say if a gambler was ever optimistic about winning a lottery or pessimistic about finding fresh Russet potatoes still in stock at their favorite supermarket.
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(emphasis mine)

ok so if one was optimistic about winning a lottery, when they don't then the person continues to be optimistic or "look on the bright side".
*Oh well, maybe I will win next time!
or even *Oh well, I gave it a shot.

still keeping the good attitude
 
Scientific studies show that both of these are physiological in brains. Linked, not caused to right and left hemispheres in human brains
I read an article by David Hecht, a professor. The Neural Basis of Optimism and Pessimism.
Interesting but very technical. There is much they don't know,of course,it might be innate and learned
. Studies show optimistic people are happier overall, but pessimists see reality better, though
less happy.
 
I do not believe that a person is optimistic or pessimistic as a whole, so there's really no way to answer the original question. Some things I can be (and am) very optimistic about... but there are other things we just know won't turn out well... and they often don't. But that doesn't make *me* an optimist or pessimist... just what the situation dictates, and each is different.

If a person *is* optimistic all the time, they're considered an oblivious Pollyanna... or pessimistic all the time, an Eeyore sad sack. We're probably all in the middle somewhere...
 
CallMeKate said:
I do not believe that a person is optimistic or pessimistic as a whole, so there's really no way to answer the original question. Some things I can be (and am) very optimistic about... but there are other things we just know won't turn out well... and they often don't. But that doesn't make *me* an optimist or pessimist... just what the situation dictates, and each is different.

If a person *is* optimistic all the time, they're considered an oblivious Pollyanna... or pessimistic all the time, an Eeyore sad sack. We're probably all in the middle somewhere...
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Based upon your last sentence I declare you an optimist.
 
Cornhusker said:
When you get up in the morning, you can say "Today is going to be a good day".
Or you can say "Today is going to be a terrible day"
Either way, you'll be right.
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What’s the point of starting the day with a negative attitude. You can cause it to be that kind of day. I’m trying to start the day with a positive approach.
 
Are You An Optimist or Pessimist?
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These are emotional states of mind, subject to situational and environmental conditions. Most people fluctuate in their emotional states, unless they are clinically deficient in some of several major neurotransmitters, or on medication.
Myself: I am usually cautiously optimistic, unless circumstances and events are dire enough to push me over to a pessimistic state of mind.
 
I was very optimistic when I was younger. Always believed no matter what happened, things could and would get better. Now that I'm in my 6th decade and have endured several big setbacks in life and a health scare over the last 20 months, I definitely do not feel optimistic anymore. I try every day to be optimistic but I just can't recapture that feeling anymore. It is a bit concerning.
 
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