Are we all pessimistic?

[NorthAmericanguy]

For the past couple days I was thinking about what we all have in common (as far as personalty wise) and I came to the conclusion from reading all the post around here and comparing it to myself that I believe it is possible that we are the type of guys who always see a 1/2 cup of milk as being half empty vs perceiving the glass as half full.

In other words, I believe we all have the basic traits to be very picky, easily bothered/aggravated and hard to please over the long haul. There is just something about our minds where we get locked on the worse case scenarios and from there we build a case as to why something is not right, or why it won't work, which then allows us to walk away from people, relationships, situations, or certain environments with little or no guilt.

It's not a bad trait necessarily because the byproduct is that it makes us inquisitive, natural explorers, risk takers, and heavily prepared people who are ready to handle the worse case scenarios.


Thoughts?

[Repatriate]

I don't believe so. I consider myself to be fairly tolerant of others in person. I don't generally talk about race, religion, or political topics to anyone else in person. I get the impression, that with the exception of Winston, most of the posters here are still content with living abroad.

The angriest posters I see on here are located in the U.S. and it's really not surprising why they are so pissed off all the time.

[Fenix]

I am a simpleton. I try to live a simple life. I don't buy things. I don't watch television. I am not materialistic. In women? All I want is for us to have chemistry, get along and she is nice to me. I am not picky on looks. I like women to be average. I am more personality based.

About "something that is not right:" I usually just think about it and try to find the best solutions and think positively. I am not pessimistic. I am pessimistic about the country I live in. I am in a tough spot right now as far as my freelancing goes. I have to basically start from scratch, but I still plan on leaving in 2012.

I see nothing but a bright future for myself in another country. I just need A,B,C and D and I will be set. I hope this answers your question.

[momopi]

For the past couple days I was thinking about what we all have in common (as far as personalty wise) and I came to the conclusion from reading all the post around here and comparing it to myself that I believe it is possible that we are the type of guys who always see a 1/2 cup of milk as being half empty vs perceiving the glass as half full.
In other words, I believe we all have the basic traits to be very picky, easily bothered/aggravated and hard to please over the long haul. There is just something about our minds where we get locked on the worse case scenarios and from there we build a case as to why something is not right, or why it won't work, which then allows us to walk away from people, relationships, situations, or certain environments with little or no guilt.
It's not a bad trait necessarily because the byproduct is that it makes us inquisitive, natural explorers, risk takers, and heavily prepared people who are ready to handle the worse case scenarios.
Thoughts?

If the glass is 1/2 full, then it's at 50% capacity. Sometimes there are good reasons to fill to only 1/2 full, like if you're sure if the person will drink a full glass of milk, it's better to fill 1/2 way to reduce wastage.

I'm pragmatic minded, and don't complain when I get served half glass. If I want a full glass, I'll pour myself. I have hands, I will fix my own problems. I have feet, I will walk to where I want to go.

People who gets all emotional, or are very picky, easily bothered/aggravated, difficult to please over the long haul, etc, expects the world to somehow cater to their expectations (or personal values), and get pissed off when things don't go their way. These types of people make better artists, assuming that he/she actually have artistic talent. A practical person has more common sense, but is less suited to be an artist.

[Contrarian Expatriate]

No. I am optimistic about some countries and some things, and I am pessimistic about feminism and the USA. A healthy, balanced individual will be both regarding different things.

[Taco]

Its difficult to be optimistic when western civilization is on the verge of collapsing, many of you will dispute this of course. True, the messages that most guys post on this forum are not entertaining, but they are the truth, and time is always on the side of truth. Most guys, don't give a dam about anything except money, sex, drugs and beer. I'd like to think, the guys, that use this forum are preceptive enough to see that this world we live in is seriously screwded up, as a result their comments will not always be positive.

If I was an optimist, these people would be my friends.

Girl Gets Stuck In Clothes Horse
http://www.break.com/index/a-girl-gets- ... se-2232631

Girl Stuck In A Dryer
http://www.break.com/index/girl-stuck-i ... er-1956868

Customers Fight Over $2 Waffle Machine
http://www.break.com/index/customers-fi ... ne-2232642

[Winston]

I don't really believe in the whole optimism vs. pessimism thing. Some people are depressed and resentful, so they tend to be negative or cynical. But if you ask them, they will say that they are realists, not pessimists.

I think negative people liver longer and get into less accidents, because they are always preparing for the worst. An optimist isn't as careful because he/she has such a positive outlook, that they don't expect things will go wrong or bad things to happen. But when they do, they are unprepared.

One should make judgments based on facts and evidence and good reasons. For example, one should be more careful in seedy areas rather than in extremely safe areas, for good reason. It all depends on the situation, not the attitude.

I do think that so called pessimists are more realistic though, than optimists. But I don't like pessimists who are too much so and predict that everything will fail, or are always imagining the worst scenario and do not consider that they may be wrong.

I also don't like optimists who will not acknowledge anything negative, even the most obvious ones. They are in denial of reality.

It's best to have a balance.

As for this site, well most people see the glass as half empty, because most people don't count their blessings. They are always looking for something just out of reach, not what they already have or can get. So that's nothing unusual.

Also, most people are quick to believe the worst. For example, if you do ten good things, and then one good thing, people will forget the good things you did and only remember the bad thing you did. That's human nature. People are quick to believe the worst and remember it the most. Human nature is weird.

[NorthAmericanguy]

Thanks guys for all the responses!

[well-informed]

It's really hard to be an optimistic MAN with all the negativity going on around the world especially in Western countries.

It's very very easy to be mistrustful of the opposite sex. Look at all the destruction that feminism has caused to American families over the past 50 years. It's not good for society. You divide and you conquer, strong nuclear families are basically non-existent nowadays.

A married man's whim is at the mercy of his wife.

[MrPeabody]

Pessimism can seriously distort reality. It creates a filter where you only see the things that go wrong. Say, for example that you have a "bad" day because several things go wrong. However, what you don't see is all the things that went right for you to still be alive, because they are in the background. It is the nature of mental processing that only things that go wrong move to the foreground. For example, the sun didn't explode, your electricity didn't go off, your phone is still working, etc. There are literally millions of things that went right for you to still be here. But they remain in the background. And that is reality, so there really isn't any factual basis to conclude that things are "bad" or "good" - it is just a perception. A good practice is to spend a few minutes at the end of the day to list all of the things you have to be grateful for. This brings up some of the good things in the background and presents a more balanced picture.

[Winston]

Funny quotes:

"An optimist is someone who doesn't have much experience."

"The advantage of being a pessimist is that all your surprises are pleasant."

"A pessimist is someone who looks both ways before crossing a one way street."

[Taco]

Humans are naturally hardwired to love optimists and dislike pessimists(me), anyone thats pessimistic will never be popular or taken seriously. This is most obvious in politicians, "The economy is going to improve" and "We need to have a war to protect our country." Or American women, "I'm not fat, I'm big and beautiful." and "He's just a friend."

[ExpeditionSailor]

I think pessimists are realists, because rarely does an OPTImal ('OPTI' capitalized because it forms the root of the word 'optimist') situation come along in life. If it does, it's a fluke, or it's only fleeting.

The irony is that if you always expect disappointment, you will never be disappointed. Or surprised.