Wednesday
Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.
Don't agree. Pessimists have more fun because we're always right.
Posted by Verity at March 16, 2006 03:50 AM
I was going to ay that I agreed with the quote and add "but try telling that to Verity". Alas, Verity got in before me. A curse upon you, Time Zones!
Posted by Nick M at March 16, 2006 08:46 AM
I think I found a new level of pessimism tonight after hearing David Willetts boasting about how Tony Blair needs the Tories to push through his policies.
Posted by Julian Taylor at March 16, 2006 08:49 AM
Verity, you a pessimist? Who would have guessed?
Seriously, I notice that my more optimistic posts get a lot of outraged responses. There's some interesting psychology at work here.
Posted by Johnathan Pearce at March 16, 2006 09:51 AM
Optimist on potential, pessimist on reality, i.e. the old adage "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst".
Posted by TimC at March 16, 2006 10:28 AM
OPTIMIST, n.
A proponent of the doctrine that black is white.
Posted by Michael at March 16, 2006 11:51 AM
PESSIMISM, n.
A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile.
Posted by Michael at March 16, 2006 11:53 AM
Johnathan - The force is with the pessimists. Even the time zones (see Nick M above).
Posted by Verity at March 16, 2006 03:02 PM
Whenever I try being optimistic about something, my hopes are smashed against the rocks. But, when I am pessimistic, then I am pleasantly surprised when things go better than I planned!
Posted by curious george at March 16, 2006 03:21 PM
I spent a good 2 hours on this (including dealing with those shysters at geocities - I'd forgotten what a kerfuffle their upload process was) so forgive me for being somewhat off-topic.
Don't be a pessimist, go to -
Posted by Nick M at March 16, 2006 03:56 PM
Hmmm... "Sorry, the page you requested was not found."
Looks like the pessimists win again, Nick M.
Posted by Simon Jester at March 16, 2006 04:14 PM
Nick M - Bin Firefox. It is a loathesome system. It buggered up my life and I finally got rid of it.
Posted by Verity at March 16, 2006 04:15 PM
I like Firefox. IE is the work of the Devil, Netscape is the work of an incompetent devil (with an addiction to "features" and I'm not a fan of the Opera.
My link was incorrect, sorry folks, and those giraffe-molesters at geocities can go hang.
The correct link is:
Posted by Nick M at March 16, 2006 04:23 PM
Don't agree. Pessimists have more fun because we're always right.
But aren't you always pessimistic about whether you're right or not? If given a choice between being Eeyore and Tigger, I choose Pooh.
Posted by Robert Speirs at March 16, 2006 08:59 PM
Three things occur to me:
(i) I have greatly enjoyed the books by Robert Heinlein that I have read, but have not read one of his for ages. I must put that right.
(ii) His definition of pessimist reminds me of the stopped clock. That clock is exactly right twice per day. Whereas the clock that is slightly fast or slightly slow is only exactly right once every zillion years.
(iii) The best sort of person to be is a realist.
Best regards
Posted by Nigel Sedgwick at March 16, 2006 11:17 PM
The fact that a stopped clock randomly happens to be right twice a day does not make it any less worthless.
If you believe you can do something, you might be wrong, but if you believe you can't do something you will be right. Good things happen more often for (I didn't say to) optimists.
Posted by triticale at March 17, 2006 05:31 AM
The one who always sees his glass as half empty is the one with the forethought to get a refill before they run out.
Posted by Verity at March 17, 2006 01:33 PM
Personally, my own outlook can be characterised as "cheerful realism|".
I think pessimism is a bit of a cop-out, in a way. It is like sailing around with a constant white flag!
Posted by Johnathan at March 18, 2006 11:19 AM
