[Closed] Are all optimists essentialy, you know..... idiots?

Unlikely. The bloke who gave me my eye test the other day seemed quite intelligent.

boom tish... are you here all week? 😆

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I don't car what you say it's most definitely half empty!

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it's most definitely half empty!

It's twice as big as it needs to be.

Well, I'm an optimist I think, and also an idiot, so you may well have a point there Binners...

Yes.

I read a paper* years and years ago that concluded that optimists, whilst as a rule happier than pessimists (obviously), are much less accurate in their predictions when you test the two groups' abilities to estimate outcomes in a controlled way. So being an optimist is good because you're innately cheery, something that has quite a few benefits, but this is in spite of, rather than because of how things actually turn out. Generally speaking, optimists are happy and wrong, pessimists are miserable but right.

It was a revelatory moment for me, explaining as it did why a) I am always right and b) why everyone else is so **** stupid all the time. 😉

*(I can't find the paper, annoyingly enough, so can't check how valid a bit of research it was.)

I hope not.

Ignorance is bliss then Mintimperial?

EDIT: not you directly by the way

Ignorance is bliss then Mintimperial?

Quite probably yes, but that's a separate argument, I think. Optimism can be independent of ignorance. My dad, for example, is an incorrigible optimist, in spite of being far better informed than I am about current affairs and politics and the like. I'm a pessimist and avoid the news as far as possible to keep myself ignorant on purpose, because it's so bloody depressing all the time.

That glass has a nice refreshing drink of cool water in it. 😀

I don't car what you say it's most definitely half empty!

Actually the bottom is slightly wider, so it's most definately [u]more[/u] than half full
😀

I assume the space in the glass above the water isn't a vacuum - so it's actually full?

[i]I read a paper* years and years ago that concluded that optimists, whilst as a rule happier than pessimists (obviously), are much less accurate in their predictions when you test the two groups' abilities to estimate outcomes in a controlled way. So being an optimist is good because you're innately cheery, something that has quite a few benefits, but this is in spite of, rather than because of how things actually turn out. Generally speaking, optimists are happy and wrong, pessimists are miserable but right.[/i]

tsk, that just proves life is shit and then you die obviously

pessimists are miserable but right.

That sounds just like TJ.

I tend to be a lot more optimistic when drunk.
But I'm also far more stupid when drunk.

I don't know what that means really

That glass has a nice refreshing drink of cool water in it.

Wrong, it has half a drink in it.

I tend to be a lot more optimistic when drunk.
But I'm also far more stupid when drunk.

I don't know what that means really

In Vino Veritas.

Wrong, it has half a drink in it.

But I don't need a bigger drink. It's perfect!

or

I know. I've already had the other half, ahhhhhhhhhhhh

I tend to be a lot more optimistic when drunk.
But I'm also far more stupid when drunk.

I don't know what that means really

It means you should keep topping up your drink thus avoiding the half empty/ full BS.

People who go around smiling ALL the time are clearly not in full possession of the facts.

But people who go around expecting everything to be crap, generally find that it is.

I like to tread a careful line between. I'm neither pessimist nor optimist, which I guess makes me just "mist" (and explains my dislike for cold windows).

The glass just has extra room for more stuff like ice or whisky

But people who go around expecting everything to be crap, generally find that it is.

I disagree. I go into everything with low expectations, then revise them down a bit, and am almost always pleasantly surprised when I don't end up broken/bankrupt/dead. The few times I have listened to an optimist on a major decision, stuff has gone wrong. Because things always turn out better than I expect them to, being a grumpy miserable pessimist is actually pretty ace. 😀

Nobtwidler, I like your thinking!

I prefer to think of myself as neither optimist or pessemist actually.

I'm a realist.

I look at stuff and see what it actually is.....

This is an Optimist.

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I'm optimistic every time on come on here, then pessmistic when I leave.

mint imperial i have read that study as well but cant recall the names either.

Surely pessimism and realism are the same thing?

By definition

op·ti·mist (pt-mst)
n.
1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome.
2. A believer in philosophical optimism.

Mans like that isn't he..

I like to think that glass is just a continental measure of gin awaiting an equal measure of chilled elderflower presse

I'm a realist

Which is how I like to present myself...

... but folks of a more optimistic persuasion just see cynicism and pessimism.

To me, you have to recognise the problems to develop a solution

I go into everything with low expectations, then revise them down a bit, and am almost always pleasantly surprised..

Ahh.. but you do still [i]"go into everything"[/i].

A truly dedicated pessimist (like my in-laws, bless em) would say [i]"Oh I don't fancy that. It might be rubbish; it might rain; it might be too dry; the harness will probably chafe; I'll hurt myself; it's probably a con..."[/i] and never do anything.

Pessimists just use their fear of failure as an excuse to take no risks. They get no joy as a result.

Optimists are annoying idiots who deserve it when things go titsup.

GrahamS - does your wife know she was an accident?

Optimists are annoying idiots who deserve it when things go titsup.

... and annoyingly, often walk away totally oblivious... 🙄

hence reinforcing their unrealistic view of the world

GrahamS - does your wife know she was an accident?

I can only assume they were once young and optimistic 😀

I like to think that glass is just a continental measure of gin awaiting an equal measure of chilled elderflower presse

Elderflower presse?

[i]Elderflower presse?????[/i]

😯

😡

(Has to leave thread for sake of own blood pressure)

I'm with Elf. Elderflower presse with gin? You people make me sick.

Angostura bitters

Pessimists are seldom disappointed and rarely outraged.

No need for it is there Graham?

Elderflower presse indeed. The sheer poncitude makes me [i]sick[/i]. 😡

Angostura bitters

Angostura bitters? Aaaaang-go-stoo-ra bitters?? In gin?

Are you stark raving mad?

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I go into everything with low expectations, then revise them down a bit

Born an optomist to die disappointed ....... or maybe not.

An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist fears this may be so.

Fred do you mean you're one of those frightful types who refer to 'gravy' rather than a 'jus'

May I suggest you pop along to the 'sliced bread' thread? mate 😉

Don't start Binners with yer 'jus' nonsense, or you'll get a slap when I see you....

Angostura bitters? Aaaaang-go-stoo-ra bitters?? In gin?

Are you stark raving mad?

One of the most traditional accompaniments for gin

Pink gin, Sir?

I knew a girl called Angostura bitters...

Oh, hang on, Agusta Bitterne

Is that Capn' Flash, Binners? 😆

I suspect it might be Fred 😀

Optimists reach beyond their grasp. One person believing in the impossible is the vital step toward expanding everyone's possibilities.

I'd rather be optimisitc and occasionally right, than pessemistic and always right......

Pink gin, Sir?

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How irritating OP for you to live with one.....

'jus sayin'

My take on it is you make the best of what comes at you some of its rubbish yes but there's too much moaning about everything these days

(warning annoying quote coming up)

If life throws you lemons crack open the tequila (I know not technically right but who wants lemonade?)

Love Bagpuss AKA the person that lives with a pessimist and is greying early due to this.......

You are the yin to my yang dear. So.... following your argument logically there....erm.... because I'm a miserable moaning bastard, you're getting tequila in this evening? Is that right?

My take on it is you make the best of what comes at you some of its rubbish yes

there's a difference between making the best of things and burying your head in the sand...