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this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2023
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Unpopular Opinion
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It’s fine as long as it doesn’t become a self fulfilling prophecy. If you think an endeavour will fail anyway you won’t try as hard because why bother
That's the real problem with pessimism. It usually does become a self-fulfilling prophecy, leading to worse outcomes for pessimists.
But yes, also less disappointment. So if you can't handle disappointment, then pessimism is the locally optimal strategy.
But the better strategy is to learn how to emotionally handle disappointment. Then you can become a realist or even an optimist and just take the disappointments along the way.
Arguably both 'extremes' can become an excuse for inaction, pessimists may think "why even try if it probably won't help" while optimists may think "it'll resolve itself / look at the bright side." Similarly, both can be strategies for coping with disappointment. And can become a tiny bit delusional.
But at least optimists live in blissful ignorance lol. I think people underestimate an optimist's ability to see problems as just solutions waiting to happen.