How can we further improve humanity.

[NoIdentificationProvided]

30 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

I disagree with the mix, I think a healthy mix is optimism and critical thinking, for instance you can forgive your neighbour if you suspect them of stealing your apples and install a camera to check.

All I have to do is persuade one pessimist to be more optomistic; there's no more zealous advocate/teacher than an ex-smoker/pessimist.

That's where a good speech comes in handy...

 

I still believe that pessimism is necessary. It makes us question ourselves. Optimism helps us find the answers to the question pessimism brings up. Critical thinking is simply finding a logical solution to a problem. Pessimism finds the problem.

[dimreepr]

Just now, NoIdentificationProvided said:

I still believe that pessimism is necessary. It makes us question ourselves. Optimism helps us find the answers to the question pessimism brings up. Critical thinking is simply finding a logical solution to a problem. Pessimism finds the problem.

Being optomistic doesn't blind one to the problems of life, but pessimism does hide the potential solutions.

[NoIdentificationProvided]

3 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Being optomistic doesn't blind one to the problems of life, but pessimism does hide the potential solutions.

That is why i said a healthy mix is nessecary.

[dimreepr]

For instance, imagine one of your family was critically ill in hospital and your time was limited; would you rather have a pessimist in the car you're trying to overtake (who's internal dialog is "that fucking idiot, let's see how you like it when I stamp on the brake) or an optomist (who's internal dialog is "I wonder why he/she's in such a hurry, I'd better let them pass, otherwise we'll both be in an accident)?

Edited October 20, 2019 by dimreepr

[NoIdentificationProvided]

46 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

For instance, imagine one of your family was critically ill in hospital and your time was limited; would you rather have a pessimist in the car you're trying to overtake (who's internal dialog is "that fucking idiot, let's see how you like it when I stamp on the brake) or an optomist (who's internal dialog is "I wonder why he/she's in such a hurry, I'd better let them pass, otherwise we'll both be in an accident)?

That is not a pessimist's inner dialog. I am a pessimist. That f**king idiot is definitely going to come through my mind. But not stamp on the brake. Who does that help?

And the optimist won't think, why's is he in a hurry? I'd better let him pass. That's a door mat.

An optimist's first thought would be maybe he's going somewhere important and he's in a rush.

[dimreepr]

Just now, NoIdentificationProvided said:

That is not a pessimist's inner dialog. I am a pessimist. That f**king idiot is definitely going to come through my mind. But not stamp on the brake. Who does that help?

I've been in several cars where that dialog was not only, not internal, but the brake stamp was actual; the point is, if "that fucking idiot" is in ones mind, the brake stamp is an obvious revenge, especially in a country where there's no excuse, in law, for crashing into the back of ones car.

14 minutes ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

And the optimist won't think, why's is he in a hurry? I'd better let him pass. That's a door mat.

No, it's a human who doesn't have to get somewhere faster than you...

[Phi for All]

16 hours ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

A positive outlook. It tends to obscure faults. I would much rather prefer a partner with one than change my pessimism. It helps me improve what I feel is imperfect.

I didn't suggest you simply adopt a positive outlook. I suggested doing an experiment like a scientist and test yourself for cognitive biases. That way you can see for yourself how heavily you influence your own decisions based on outlook. 

If you're truly interested in revealing faults instead of obscuring them, it's a very easy experiment. After all, the ideal is to have a decent balance between optimism and pessimism, so you can use them properly as objective filters instead of being dominated by one or the other. 

1 hour ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

That is why i said a healthy mix is nessecary.

You say this, but....

[NoIdentificationProvided]

5 minutes ago, Phi for All said:

I didn't suggest you simply adopt a positive outlook. I suggested doing an experiment like a scientist and test yourself for cognitive biases. That way you can see for yourself how heavily you influence your own decisions based on outlook. 

If you're truly interested in revealing faults instead of obscuring them, it's a very easy experiment. After all, the ideal is to have a decent balance between optimism and pessimism, so you can use them properly as objective filters instead of being dominated by one or the other. 

You say this, but....

I am not a healthy mix 😂

13 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

I've been in several cars where that dialog was not only, not internal, but the brake stamp was actual; the point is, if "that fucking idiot" is in ones mind, the brake stamp is an obvious revenge, especially in a country where there's no excuse, in law, for crashing into the back of ones car.

That isn't a pessimist. That's anger issues. A pessimist is a bad person who actively seeks revenge. We may offend people with our words, but we don't hit cars because they are trying to overtake yours. What country are you from anyway?

[dimreepr]

5 minutes ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

That isn't a pessimist. That's anger issues. A pessimist is a bad person who actively seeks revenge. We may offend people with our words, but we don't hit cars because they are trying to overtake yours. What country are you from anyway?

Way to miss the point...  

 

Out of the two, who's going to be the angriest?

[Phi for All]

5 minutes ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

I am not a healthy mix 😂

So try the experiment. Pick a day and look for the folks who give your car space to merge, or hold a door a bit longer for you, or just smile when you look at them. Watch for people being nice to others. Write them down, make notes. Check the headlines for positive news, and read the stories. Invest in some goodness.

I think humanity is always looking for improvement, and that means you have to keep an eye out for it. If that eye only sees the negative, you'll spend your life identifying problems but you won't be able to do anything about them. Don't deny yourself the tools you need. Not everything can be fixed with a hammer.

 

[NoIdentificationProvided]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

Way to miss the point...  

 

Out of the two, who's going to be the angriest?

The pessimist.

[dimreepr]

1 minute ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

The pessimist.

Probably...

[NoIdentificationProvided]

37 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Probably...

But that doesnt mean he'll over react.

[naitche]

7 hours ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

But that doesnt mean he'll over react.

No. But hes more likely to react negatively, having a negative impact on his environment. 

We don't tend to nurture what we see to have negative value.

[NoIdentificationProvided]

36 minutes ago, naitche said:

No. But hes more likely to react negatively, having a negative impact on his environment. 

We don't tend to nurture what we see to have negative value.

Which is why I said a mix is necessary. Or do you seriously believe, that society can function optimally with only optimists?

[iNow]

28 minutes ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

Or do you seriously believe, that society can function optimally with only optimists?

Depends on how you define optimal 

[dimreepr]

11 hours ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

Which is why I said a mix is necessary. Or do you seriously believe, that society can function optimally with only optimists?

Why not?

Like I said, it's perfectly possible to be optomistic and be aware of the pitfalls that life sometimes presents, besides we'll never irradicate the fear (and or suffering/biases) that takes an optomistic child to the dark side of adulthood...

In a prodominately rich society, the fear of poverty is a powerful motivator.

Edited October 21, 2019 by dimreepr

[NoIdentificationProvided]

38 minutes ago, dimreepr said:

Why not?

Like I said, it's perfectly possible to be optomistic and be aware of the pitfalls that life sometimes presents, besides we'll never irradicate the fear (and or suffering/biases) that takes an optomistic child to the dark side of adulthood...

In a prodominately rich society, the fear of poverty is a powerful motivator.

Pessimism mixed with optimism helps us prepare for the worst.

Pessimism helps us see the worst. Optimism gives us the spirit to deal with it.

[Phi for All]

13 minutes ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

Pessimism mixed with optimism helps us prepare for the worst.

Pessimism helps us see the worst. Optimism gives us the spirit to deal with it.

That's not a mix. That's like saying "Life's a bitch but there's candy". You're still stuck with a pessimistic view of life, but the candy helps you deal.

Pessimism simply keeps us finding the flaws in the system, and optimism keeps us fixing them. You do need a mix, but you also need to believe you're progressing in this manner. 

It's like the matter/antimatter relationship. There needs to be a bit more positive than negative in order for anything to exist. Perhaps think of it that way?

[dimreepr]

1 hour ago, NoIdentificationProvided said:

Pessimism mixed with optimism helps us prepare for the worst.

Pessimism helps us see the worst. Optimism gives us the spirit to deal with it.

A mix is always going to be enevitable, no-one can possibly persuade every pessimist to change codes. 

1 hour ago, Phi for All said:

It's like the matter/antimatter relationship. There needs to be a bit more positive than negative in order for anything to exist. Perhaps think of it that way?

Indeed, it takes very little energy for a ripple to cross an ocean, but it's impossible to stop every ripple from happening.