Optipessimism

An old story to differentiate between an optimist and a pessimist… a glass with some water is given to two people. The person who says the glass is half empty is a pessimist and the guy who says it is half filled is an optimist. Is this a kind of joke? How can be anybody branded as an optimist or for that matter a pessimist by asking a question?

This has been observed and followed by many people since ages. Some companies still put these things in their process of selection for a job. Can anyone say that Stefan Banic, the person who invented parachute is a pessimist? Who was the person who got the thought to take data backup? The business continuity plans, the disaster recovery process and the list goes on which requires a negative thought.

The above situations and examples prove that the so called pessimist is instrumental in revolutionizing many systems and processes across the world. Are these people not optimistic? Yes they are but they also know how to think out of the box and to foresee a problem. I don’t say being optimistic is bad but at the same time an individual has to think pessimistically also

People say that an optimist is required for the development of the society, optimists make a better world and blah blah... True but is optimism a core quality of a person or is it guided by the situation?

I say it is guided by the situation. The person who said the glass was half empty would have been in a bad situation where there was no water except for that half glass and he/she has to quench the thirst of so many people. It is pretty obvious that the situation is guiding the person to say something like that. It is utterly foolish to say the glass is half full in this situation and be happy rather than realizing the ground realities and acting pragmatically.

If the quality of optimism or pessimism is dependent on a particular situation, then why brand a person optimist or pessimist? Every person is a mix of both and that is what is required for balanced and happy living. Right??