Optimist, Pessimist or Nihilist, and why?

[SD-Fiend]

an optimist towards humanity's future pessimistic toward myself.

 

[Tommeh Brownleh]

Pessimist. People are dicks, I realize this fact, and live to tell others of this fact.

 

[KoalaKid]

I don't think a lot of you know what a realist is. Hyper-realists for example think that the human mind cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy.Being a realist is not "keeping it real" or something like that.

Personally I am neither an optimist or a pessimist. If negative forces in life push me I don't resist or deny their existence, neither do I let them control or drown me. I come to terms with them, excepting them completely for what they are, and then either find the way to correct the problem with the least force or simply let it go. In a storm the limber tree that bends with the wind survives, where the tree which cannot bend snaps and breaks.

 

[The_Echo]

Realist: No ones a realist, you are just one of the other choices in disguise.

As if no one's a realist. I'm a realist.

realism |ˈrēəˌlizəm|
noun
1 the attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it

You're telling me that just doesn't happen? 'Cause it does.

 

[The Abhorrent]

Fatalist: Life has no purpose/ People live to die.

I think you got the terminology a bit mixed up there, your description there is more in line with a nihilist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism]; a fatalist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatalist] is one who believes in fate (and I understand the "fatal" part in "fatalism" implies otherwise).

---

As for myself, I have to say that my outlook is that of a realistic optimist. I don't believe that things will turn out for the best, in fact I know otherwise. The world is going to be engulfed in an inferno when the Sun becomes a red giant; if it isn't actually consumed by our parent star, it'll become a dead and frozen world orbiting what could be called a (slowly) dying ember. The (most likely) fate of the universe as a whole is to become a sea of nothingness. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_death_of_the_universe] Indeed, astronomy can be very depressing and certainly can make the nihilistic outlook more appealing; is there any point at all when we are nothing but an insignificant spec in a vast universe which is doomed to die?

The late Carl Sagan has some interesting input on that:

We're small, but life goes on and the Pale Blue Dot is all we got.

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To give into the outlook that everything is pointless and we shouldn't give a damn is, in all honesty, sad and pathetic. We don't have much, but at least we have something. Things don't turn out alright on their own, neither do they always go wrong. It isn't pointless unless you allow it to be so.

Life is exactly what you make of it.

"A mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam". A small and brief existence in an endless sea of darkness, but it is a priviledged one. Most probably don't realize how special that actually is in the grand scheme of things. We have a chance to shape our world and our lives, and only a fool would not realize the potential they have.

 

[___________________]

So I've been lurking the forums of the Escapist for a long time, and I notice the many and varied life views on here. From "Everyone is inherently good" to "There's no fucking purpose to life" And I have to wonder which is the Norm on here my Hypothesis it that it will be Pessimism, but I may be surprised, pleasantly or otherwise.

Heres how I'm framing the choices, simply for my own ease, I fully understand that I may oversimplify or just screw up a definition, just bear with me.

Optimism: Everything will turn out okay/ people are inherently good.
Pessimism: Most things will not end well/ People are dicks.
Realist: No ones a realist, you are just one of the other choices in disguise.
Fatalist: Life has no purpose/ People live to die.

Edit: I feel a bit unfair, I have yet to state my outlook: I'm an Optimist, things can and will improve, and I truly believe that people are good, just misguided or scared.

Depressive realism takes a dump on illusionary views of reality like optimism and pessimism.

 

[ultrachicken]

Pessimist, if you don't have any expectations then you can't be dissapointed, only pleasently surprised.

Are you really so afraid of disappointment that you want to spend almost your entire life in a gloom state to avoid it? I've never understood that particular justification for pessimism.

OT: I believe that some people are good, some are bad, and that there is no way to accurately have knowledge as to how many are in each camp or in the middle ground, so there's no point in trying. Feel free to try lumping me into one of your listed demographics if you want, OP, but I'm certainly not going to.

My state of gloom is not perennial, I just hold no expectations for a positive outcome unless there is strong convincing evidence to suggest otherwise and even then it's healthy to have an air of skepticism about you.

I would say that constantly expecting the worst is a perennial state of gloom.

I'm not afraid of dissapointment

If I can expect the worst possible outcome, then I can prepare for it's repurcussions, pick up the pieces and carry on. If the outcome is positive then the result is all the sweeter.

That's a bit of a contradiction. You claim to not be afraid of disappointment, yet simultaneously use the avoidance of disappointment as one of two justifications for your outlook on life.

I just find optimistic outlooks to be unrealistic. There's good to be found in this world, but it's fairly sparce and I don't see any reason to lie to myself.

I think that seeing the entire world as a flower just waiting to blossom, bursting with sunshine and rainbows is unrealistic, but so is thinking of the world as a stream of Satan's molten piss with a few diamonds mixed in (don't look at me like that, we all know Satan has a weird diet). How do you justify this world view? You cannot collect statistics of how often good triumphs over evil, you can only use personal anecdotes and news stations that filter out positive news in favor of negative. Claiming to know so much about humanity from such a limited perspective seems like lying to yourself, to me.

 

[chaosyoshimage]

Some times I'm an optimist and sometimes a pessimist. I don't really have any control over that sort of thing, just depends on what mood I'm in. I have zero control over mood, emotion, and viewpoints like these...

 

[Kizi]

Definitely pessimistic. I don't really think the world sucks but it just tries really fucking hard to make me feel like it does.

 

[J4RD]

Pessimist. I'm never disappointed.

 

[AbstractStream]

I used to be a pessimist, but then I realized that it's always better to look at the brighter side.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

Big time pessimist, and I'm not really proud of it. I'm trying to make a shift towards being an optimist, but that just means going through life with an attitude of "Impress me, ************." I guess it's one of those things that takes practice with each event thrown your way, so I have a lot to learn, I guess.

 

[salinv]

Where is the nihilist option?

I'm optimistic in my endeavors, pessimistic of yours. A realist in my dreams, and a fatalist in the face of betrayal.

In short my philosophy is that the human condition is subject to change based on the scenario that the subject is participating in. When life is good, everything is good; When you find out your girlfriend of four years is pregnant with someone else's kid, understandably you can hate the world and everyone in it.

The best I hope for is brief moments of contentment to break up the monotony of my wasted youth, all the while searching for things to waste away with until my years run out and I die.

This. Aaand I thought I had something to add. Guess not.

Oh, If I must force myself into a mold, I'm optimistic looking forward, a pessimist (but a productive one!) in the present, and curious about it all in hindsight.

 

[Blind Sight]

Romantic realist.

Just try to figure that out.

 

[Get Off My Lawn]

I am an optimist. I hope for the best and prepare for the worst. This doesn't mean I dwell on what could go wrong, but I always try to think of worst case scenarios and how to handle them.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

snip

Well from personal experience, a large percentage of the people I encounter are assholes, I'm miserable and self loathing and I just don't see things working out for me. Maybe your life's just fucking peachy, I can't say, but I don't realistically expect things to improve for me. As for the news, I could mention the thousands of years of atrocities that humanity has committed. But really, all it takes is for people to be indifferent, for their drive to be their avarice, so hears a more modern example. New Orleans is still a dilapited shithole because the investment required to fix it would not be profitable, the people from other states who have to pay the taxes are vastly isolationists and the government doesn't want to donate the billions of dollars necessary to fix a city that will be of no monetary benefit to them. You think if LA or New York got hit by a tornado it'd still look like shit this many years on? Me either. No that's not my sole reason for a pessimistic outlook and this sure as fuck isn't the first time something of this avaricious nature has occurred. I just don't think there are enough altruistically inclined individuals in this world who actually have the power and diligence to significantly change things for the better, if you want to believe otherwise good for you, but I can't.

 

[ultrachicken]

snip

Well from personal experience, a large percentage of the people I encounter are assholes, I'm miserable and self loathing and I just don't see things working out for me. Maybe your life's just fucking peachy, I can't say, but I don't realistically expect things to improve for me. As for the news, I could mention the thousands of years of atrocities that humanity has committed. But really, all it takes is for people to be indifferent, for their drive to be their avarice, so hears a more modern example. New Orleans is still a dilapited shithole because the investment required to fix it would not be profitable, the people from other states who have to pay the taxes are vastly isolationists and the government doesn't want to donate the billions of dollars necessary to fix a city that will be of no monetary benefit to them. You think if LA or New York got hit by a tornado it'd still look like shit this many years on? Me either. No that's not my sole reason for a pessimistic outlook and this sure as fuck isn't the first time something of this avaricious nature has occurred. I just don't think there are enough altruistically inclined individuals in this world who actually have the power and diligence to significantly change things for the better, if you want to believe otherwise good for you, but I can't.

So you think anecdotes are actually a valid reason to base your outlook on? That makes no sense.

You went ahead and listed shitty stuff about the world without even considering the good stuff, and then showed that you haven't even paid attention to what I've said about my beliefs by creating the most inaccurate strawman I've ever seen. I'm quickly losing my desire to continue this discussion, so go ahead and take the last word, if you wish.

 

[HerbertTheHamster]

very cheerful fatalist. Nothing anyone every does will ever matter, just eat bacon and party to your hearts content

 

[SilentCom]

I'm an optimist when I'm happy and a pessimist when I'm depressed. I'm often about as happy as I am depressed. Currently I am feeling depressed so I would have to say pessimist, however my outlook may change tomorrow. Damn, I might be bipolar...

 

[CrystalShadow]

Ehm... None/All of the above.

I'm an optimistic pessimist. XD

Well, to put it differently, whether I'm optimistic, pessimistic or fatalistic isn't anything inherent to my personality, it's merely reflects what mood I'm in.

When I'm depressed, (which used to be quite a lot), I'm very much a fatalist.

At other times, I waver between optimism and pessimism, though it varies.

I'm not particularly optimistic about human nature, but thankfully that often leads to being pleasantly surprised.

Sometimes, I'm very optimistic about what's possible (especially with technology), but on balance I guess I'm subtly pessimistic most of the time.

Eh. Clear as mud, right? XD