Estimated reading time 7 mins.
The following is a revised excerpt from my essay, “What is Objective Optimism?”, which you can read in full here. For some illustrative applications of Objective Optimism (OO) versus Pessimism and Subjective “Optimism” (SO), go here.
Optimism needs a new look
Optimism’s got a bad rap. It is associated with ignorance, naivety, and immaturity. A Morgan Housel article does well to highlight a few reasons why pessimism is sexy, but John Stuart Mill in any case identified the tendency over 150 years ago:
“I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs while others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.”
An optimist is an adorable but pitiful child who expects the best in the world until such a sage elder (or harsh reality) snaps them out of their foolish, idealistic notions and expectations. The child is an adult now, properly cynical and “realistic.”
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