Day 18: Positive negativity

"We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect"

Let’s inject some non-melancholy mood into this blog!

I know that this blog starts off as a place to reflect about the book that I was reading, then progressed to personal values and generalization, to experiences in my life. Apparently, as I reread the entries, it seems like the blog is covered with depression and melancholy. Let’s end that negativity!

So, I’m going to write about…wait for it…*drum roll*…negativity!

Pessimism, to be exact.

As many has pointed out, (looking at you, Alena) I don’t exactly look at the glass “half full”. Opposed to what many has said, I don’t consider it half empty either. In my perspective, this glass will be described as 50% water and 50% air. So technical, so dry and so unoriginal, I know. But that’s fact. I usually always state facts. I’m going to be that lame person who will say your dream is wild, or that your optimism is flawed by bringing up the positivity of something happening. That’s why mathematicians don’t do lottery often, if at all!

But surely, if I have to choose, I’m way closer to the pessimist side than to the optimist side. That, in my opinion, is a good thing. I believe that pessimism is superior, no matter how many times you see articles online telling you to think positively. Crazy, right? Maybe the only thing that is better when negative is X-ray or medical tests. If you think that way, congratulation! Your optimism will lead you to go places in life. Maybe not all of them are gonna be positive, but at least you know you’ll be happy.

The fact though, stands that pessimism has quite a few advantages over optimism.

It helps you fight anxiety. Yes, this is true. Like, scientifically true. Public speaking is my favorite example. If I've got a speech I'm going to give, and I'm anxious about it, I start thinking, this is going to be a disaster. By actually thinking that, I will automatically recheck, practice, and rehearse my speech, as opposed to a positive thinker who thinks everything is going to be alright.

It lowers your expectation. Hey, if you expect the speech to be a disaster. What more can go wrong? You already get the worst case scenario. If it happens, you can say you expect it, if it goes normal, you can say that you are pleasantly surprised and relieved.

It leads you to better decisions based on risk calculating. This is where the crucial difference between positive and negative thinking is. Let’s go to lottery. You were given 1000 free lottery tickets. Now, you can sell it for 1.75$ (on a 2$ original price). Would you do it? Mathematically, you should absolutely do it, because the probability of you winning to offset the value of 1000 tickets won’t be great. But optimists will gladly take the chance while pessimists will gladly back out and get their $1750.

Don’t change how you view the world because of this. All I’m saying is, yes, if you happen to be not so positive, take comfort in the fact that you certainly have advantages solely on the way you’re thinking.

Optimistic thinking won’t always be positive.

Best regards,