Many psychologists classify the population as predominantly optimistic - some claiming 80% of people are optimistic, others stating that 60% of us are somewhat optimistic. Positivity became king and we, inadvertently, became its servants. Since the 1960s, there’s been a change in sentiment supported by growing research that correlates positivity to being successful. Historically, it was associated with simplistic and unrealistic people, especially in literature such as Porter’s “Pollyanna.” Psychologists, like Freud, dismissed it considering it ‘ illusory denial.’ Optimism Rules the World “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” - Oscar Wilde Both optimism and pessimism have bright and dark sides - what you do matters more than how you see the glass. However, this right or wrong approach is deceiving. Our society worships optimists and stigmatizes pessimists - people will like you or reject you depending on your view. “There is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” - William Shakespeare You can drink it down and then refill the glass. It makes us approach optimism and pessimism as opposite and fixed concepts - you are forced to choose a side. I’ve always liked to challenge truisms - metaphors like this oversimplify life. We were taught that pessimists see the glass as half-empty while optimists see it as half-full. Our perception of life is a matter of perspective. How we got the glass-half-full metaphor all wrong.
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