More Good News for Optimists

So where DID the title for this blog come from?

I have had a long-standing struggle with optimism, which is pretty well-summarized by a classic Far Side cartoon. The panel features four people, each looking at a glass of water filled to the half-way mark. The first declares, "This glass is half-empty!", the second, "This glass is half-full!", the third, "Half-full - no, wait! Half-empty - no! Half-", and the fourth, "Hey, I ordered a cheeseburger!" I - ordered the cheeseburger.

(I looked for a link to the actual cartoon, but stopped after reading this on a bulletin board. In case it was written by Gary Larson, I'm respecting his wishes because he's awesome. If it wasn't written by him, it saved I'm still using it as an excuse to forego the effort of locating this particular strip in one of my Far Side books and scanning it.)

One of the reasons I have a hard time succumbing to optimism is because I'm a realist. I remember reading of a study that asked people who self-identified as optimists and realists to guess how many people had died in the Holocaust. The optimists were WAY off, and underestimated to a tremendous degree. The realists were pretty darn close. (For the record, it's about 20 million. Sorry to bum you out.)

I have always placed a great deal of importance on being right. More so than being positive, although I think this is also important. It just seems that a sunny attitude without any background knowledge is pointless. Which is why I'm not an optimist, I suppose. But I wouldn't count myself as a pessimist because I don't think the worst possible outcome is more likely than the best possible outcome. I think you just don't know, but a good assessment of the facts at hand helps you prepare for either.

That being said, I envy the optimists. Clueless, happy bastards. Really, does all this thinking make me HAPPY? Not always. And then I came across this gem, regarding a study at the Mayo Clinic that demonstrates all the health benefits of being optimistic. And I thought, "Well more good news for optimists!", as if they need it. (See "Clueless, happy bastards.")

And why is this site more good news? To quote another comic work, by Ashleigh Brilliant (available for purchase in plaque form) -"It’s possible that my whole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others." Take heed, optimists and realists and pessimists alike. Interpret my musings as you will, but keep in mind we're all better off with glasses or contacts shaded ever so slightly in the pink.