Thoughts on pessimism

My mother gave me a magazine article today, detailing the bad things that can happen to pessimistic people. I steeled myself, took a deep breath, and tried to take it seriously. As it happens, the reason that she gave me article in the first place is that I am, by nature, rather prone to a negative outlook, and tend to be dismissive of anyone who tells me anything thematically close to "cheer up".

In fact, this particular article wasn't the syrupy-sweet fluff piece I feared; it simply presented statistics and medical opinions about the long-term consequences of a grim worldview. I was mildly impressed: I didn't find anything immediately annoying about the article.

Of course, I couldn't just smile and get happy, either. A few minutes after reading, my most powerful impression was this:

FROM THE ARTICLE (paraphrasing): Pessimistic people tend to think that all problems are permanent, and give up too easily.

MY RESPONSE: You know who else thinks problems are permanent? People who have legitimately permanent problems, and have accurately assessed their circumstances. A young telegraph operator in the 1980's, for example, shouldn't be called a quitter or pessimistic for examining the marketplace and deciding that his chosen field is doomed-- quite the contrary; he'd be a fool to "tough it out" and "fight the good fight" in a dying industry.

Too many "every cloud has a silver lining" types cry pessimism at the first hint of a non-positive observation. To them, I say this: a negative statement is only pessimism if it is ill-considered, wrong, and unhelpful. If I tell you something unpleasant, it's very probably something I feel is both important and true; I'm seriously not trying to be a dick.

(Okay, sometimes I am trying to be a dick. That's probably your fault for goading me into it.)

Thoughts on pessimism

My mother gave me a magazine article today, detailing the bad things that can happen to pessimistic people. I steeled myself, took a deep breath, and tried to take it seriously. As it happens, the reason that she gave me article in the first place is that I am, by nature, rather prone to a negative outlook, and tend to be dismissive of anyone who tells me anything thematically close to "cheer up".

In fact, this particular article wasn't the syrupy-sweet fluff piece I feared; it simply presented statistics and medical opinions about the long-term consequences of a grim worldview. I was mildly impressed: I didn't find anything immediately annoying about the article.

Of course, I couldn't just smile and get happy, either. A few minutes after reading, my most powerful impression was this:

FROM THE ARTICLE (paraphrasing): Pessimistic people tend to think that all problems are permanent, and give up too easily.

MY RESPONSE: You know who else thinks problems are permanent? People who have legitimately permanent problems, and have accurately assessed their circumstances. A young telegraph operator in the 1980's, for example, shouldn't be called a quitter or pessimistic for examining the marketplace and deciding that his chosen field is doomed-- quite the contrary; he'd be a fool to "tough it out" and "fight the good fight" in a dying industry.

Too many "every cloud has a silver lining" types cry pessimism at the first hint of a non-positive observation. To them, I say this: a negative statement is only pessimism if it is ill-considered, wrong, and unhelpful. If I tell you something unpleasant, it's very probably something I feel is both important and true; I'm seriously not trying to be a dick.

(Okay, sometimes I am trying to be a dick. That's probably your fault for goading me into it.)