People often say that pessimism grows with age.
I was born with it.
At least I think I was. Its often hard to find that invisible line between pessimism and realism. Many people will say that if you say that its unlikely X will happen youre being pessimistic. But what if it really is unlikely that X will occur? If event X is a meteor made of solid gold landing softly in my lap, then I think most people would say that it is not being pessimistic to think that is unlikely. Rather, they would say I am being realistic.
So isnt that the rub? It all depends on what X is. If I say it is unlikely Ive been possessed by demons, one person could say thats true while another could say au contraire! It all depends on the beliefs of the people determining the odds of an event. Thus, my belief in the likelihood of finding a dollar under my pillow after I put my tooth there is contingent on my belief in the Tooth Fairy.
Reasonable, right?
So what is it then that freaks people out so much when you say that you dont believe that youre destined to find your soul mate or the right person. For the sake of argument, lets leave soul mate behind. That term by itself brings a whole cruise ship worth of baggage with it. Instead, lets focus on right person. If you dont believe there is some invisible hand guiding you through life, its perfectly reasonable to believe that there is no reason why you should find the right person. If you dont believe in some invisible hand guiding you then its not reasonable that youre guaranteed anything in life.
So maybe thats it. Most people believe in some fundamental sense of destiny. They believe in some sense that there is someone or something watching over them making sure their life goes as planned. Well, I guess I prefer to work without a net, and that makes me a pessimist. Funny, from the sound of it, youd have to be more of an optimist to work without a net. Maybe that optimism/realism line is more blurry than I thought.
(I'm sure a few posts like this will keep John from asking me to update this
)
I was born with it.
At least I think I was. Its often hard to find that invisible line between pessimism and realism. Many people will say that if you say that its unlikely X will happen youre being pessimistic. But what if it really is unlikely that X will occur? If event X is a meteor made of solid gold landing softly in my lap, then I think most people would say that it is not being pessimistic to think that is unlikely. Rather, they would say I am being realistic.
So isnt that the rub? It all depends on what X is. If I say it is unlikely Ive been possessed by demons, one person could say thats true while another could say au contraire! It all depends on the beliefs of the people determining the odds of an event. Thus, my belief in the likelihood of finding a dollar under my pillow after I put my tooth there is contingent on my belief in the Tooth Fairy.
Reasonable, right?
So what is it then that freaks people out so much when you say that you dont believe that youre destined to find your soul mate or the right person. For the sake of argument, lets leave soul mate behind. That term by itself brings a whole cruise ship worth of baggage with it. Instead, lets focus on right person. If you dont believe there is some invisible hand guiding you through life, its perfectly reasonable to believe that there is no reason why you should find the right person. If you dont believe in some invisible hand guiding you then its not reasonable that youre guaranteed anything in life.
So maybe thats it. Most people believe in some fundamental sense of destiny. They believe in some sense that there is someone or something watching over them making sure their life goes as planned. Well, I guess I prefer to work without a net, and that makes me a pessimist. Funny, from the sound of it, youd have to be more of an optimist to work without a net. Maybe that optimism/realism line is more blurry than I thought.
(I'm sure a few posts like this will keep John from asking me to update this
) 
freckle:
bah... updating is important. good for john.