Nothing to discuss. You have proven your point well. Where do I sign up ?

Ridiculous.

How about this:

Optimism is delusion and denial: the willful rejection of any information that threatens your ego or your personal construct or your sense of well-being or happiness or your sense that the world is doing just fine. Optimism, in the end, can be very dangerous, and lead to situations like the one we're living in now, where so many people in America are in denial about, well, I don't think I need to go into it. Well, look at your heating bill, first of all. Are you still satisfied?

Pessimism, contrarily, is the acceptance that the world and society are not placid and unwaveringly good. Pessimism accepts that human nature is as cruel as it is good, and that one must be conscious of the bad, and prepared for it, in order to function well and healthily and to guard against it, fight it off and correct it. In the end, pessimism is what moves society forward, by realizing what is bad, calling popular attention to it, and so bringing those social ills to be fixed.

Optimism (which not coincidentally was pushed rather forcefully by the Republicans during the 2004 election) accepts that nothing needs to be changed, everything is just fine, and we're not actually going to Hell in a handbasket even if we are. Optimism, ultimately, hinders progress by blinding us to the injustices and faults in and of society.

Simply "incorporating the thing one likes about oneself into a thing or occurrence", or some other sort of delusion fostered by Eastern philosophy, does not help you, or your neighbors, if certain parts of society are not kindly disposed toward you. Criminals will be criminal simply because they can.

p + o- they seem to be two halves of the coin that is reality. neither one can fully encompass reality; they are mere descriptions of our emotional perspective. neither alone will give us a full sense of what we are actually experiencing. and rather than claiming them as our disposition and acting under their influences, they are more useful when they remain descriptions of our attitudes. but like produces like, and we began to indentify with our behavior.

i have recently discovered my own cynicism to be a hinderance, due to its imbalance in my perspective, rather than its mere presence. and have found that the biggest and possibly sole benefit to practicing optimism is the energy it preserves/ produces. being negative is draining, always watching out of the corner of your eye. preparing for every possible wrong outcome and generally forcing ones face into a frown, its exhausting. as well as repellant to other people who mark your moods as a measure of your (im)maturity, lack of success in life, and general drain on their spirits. being too happy go lucky allows you to enjoy all the beautiful rainbows and fluffy clouds, and quite possibly get devoured. but the question is, will you feel pain.

how about an expanded perspective that is less emotionally based, less reactionary to circumstances and experience. appreciating the scenery, after you have determined it is safe. is optimism/ pessimism a strategy for you (the plural you) in the game of life as much as a defense mechanism? b/c really, you can get fired with no warning, no tangible reason and you have the choice. do i see this as the path to freedom and insist that something great is around the corner? or do i spend all week drunk and slothful, recovering from hurt and rage. one seems clearly more productive than the other, and while harder initially, paving a smoother path in the long run. it all depends on your goal.

pardon my lack of eloquence right now. im not up to par with yalls fine grammar this early am.

Gerge W. Bush is known for his OPTIMISM in the face of all fact, even today after having killed more
Americans than Bin Laden.