Pessimism Essay

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An Optimistic Look on Pessimism Society judges things in black and white; people are either this or they are that. Democratic or Republican. Admirable or evil. Intelligent or foolish. A glass is either half empty or half full to an individual with this thought process. Society believes one is either a pessimist, or an optimist. Back to societal views: Optimism is superior to any other style of thought. Yes it was a disastrous day, but tomorrow will be better. Brush off that attempt, success will come next time. But what about the contrary? Even though optimism is commonly thought as superior to pessimism, the capabilities of pessimistic thinking are not to be undervalued. Pessimism is required in life’s toolbox. Not everything can be …show more content…

Yes a pessimist may lack hope and is often anxious for what will come, but these thoughts can often lead to positive outcomes. One subcategory of this method of thinking is defensive pessimism. Defensive Pessimism is a, “strategy for dealing with anxiety and helping to manage anxiety so that it doesn’t really matter if it’s realistic or not” (Khazan). When people use defensive pessimism, “they set low expectations, but then they take the next step which is to think through in concrete and vivid ways what exactly might go wrong (...) it helps them plan to avoid the disaster” (Khazan). When one uses optimism over defensive pessimism, he or she would plan on no errors, no interruptions, and smooth sailing; if one wrench is thrown into this approach, the individual will crash and burn. That one wrench, will ruin that perfect, tall ego. Defensive Pessimism protects people from talking themselves up only to then tear themselves down (Williams). Pessimism also “Reduces the tension of expectations, protects you from disappointment, and might even make you laugh a bit” (Salas) With planning for the worst, success is possible even if it is certain that, “today will go wrong, tomorrow will probably be even worse, until the worst of all happens” because people who use defensive pessimism will be prepared

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