The Pessimist Trap
I know several people who could be called pessimists. Pessimists tend to see the world as a place where bad things happen, evil is stronger than good, that, in general, things will turn out poorly in the end, and that human nature is untrustworthy and basically bad. English philosopher Thomas Hobbes was showing his pessimism when he said that it is unchangeable human nature to be greedy, untrustworthy, violent, and dishonest, which dooms us to a life that is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Pessimists tend to look for the negative in everything such that every silver lining has a dark cloud, and a half glass of water is always seen a half empty rather than half full. With as much conflict, strife, ignorance, and stupidity in the world, it is often easy to think we are always headed toward the worst. I used to be a pessimist who found fault with everyone and everything. But at the time I would have said I was a realist because...
