Eccentric Flower:201104/Against Optimism
From Eccentric Flower
Against Optimism
Trinker posted:
One of the joys of DW and LJ is serendipitous encounters with people whose entries brighten your world, or open your eyes, or otherwise make things go "click."
I found this at ardat_lilli's page, thanks to an unrelated comment left in a community I moderate. I have never claimed the label of "optimist" for myself, but looking back on my major life decisions, I can't see where pessimism or neutrality brought me better results than eyes-wide-open optimism. Hope, rather than "it's all fine" blindness. I think I've been kneejerk aversive toward the concept, to my detriment. (I can identify two places where optimism is an inappropriate response, but that's two out of the entire range.)
I wrote this reply and then removed it, because Trinker's emotional health is very much in the reconstructive phase right now and she doesn't need to hear this (and I doubt she comes by here anymore). In fact, I'm not sure anyone needs to hear it. That doesn't change its truth:
Sorry, disagree strongly. I have never read anything else of Bonhoeffer, and I don't have a context to place that quote in so I'm not sure of his actual views - but if he was indeed saying, as ardat_lilli is, "I remain an optimist nonetheless," then he is wrong, just as ardat_lilli is wrong.
Pessimism is the sane reaction. Pessimism leads to "it's broken bad, let's try to fix it." Optimism leads to, "oh, well, I suppose I can live with that" and the slow creep of rot. I did not miss the point where you tried to draw a distinction between good optimism and bad ("Hope, rather than 'it's all fine' blindness") but I feel that the first kind inevitably deteriorates into the second.
I am constantly called out for being some kind of prophet of doom, as if my friends think I walk around every day under a black cloud. It's not true. That would be useless. If you let the weight of pessimism crush you, that's bad. Bonhoeffer's response to the horrors of Nazism was far more constructive than Tadeusz Borowski's, for sure. Avoiding being crushed by that cloud is a full-time task; it takes strength, it takes energy. I'm sure that's why some people prefer to be blithe, because they don't want to have to hold up the storm cloud all day long and take the risk that one day it will simply eat their minds. But I simply do not believe that we can improve until we realize just how horrible everything actually is.
You know, some people actually don't notice that their bathroom is dirty. The dirt happens so gradually, on a day to day basis, that it's hard to tell it's accumulating. Then one day they look, awakened by something, and they say, "Oh my god, this bathroom's filthy, how could I not have cleaned it in so long?"
You have to be able to see the mildew before you can scrub it away. Optimism continues to look to me a lot like pretending the mildew isn't there.
I won't go so far as to say Optimism Considered Harmful, but I will say that I would almost always rather take my risks with a pessimist than with an optimist. With a pessimist, I know what the worst I will get is; and it can only go up from there. With an optimist, the failure mode is boundless.
There have been 126 posts at http://violetimpudence.tumblr.com/. All of them are good. Very few of them are depressing, like this entry is. Just sayin'. Why are you still here among the weeds when you could be smelling the flowers?
You're correct, but let us be sure to separate my weeds from the rest of the world's weeds. Weed the other gardens, not mine. This one is going fallow.
-- 16:42, 28 April 2011 (BST)
You're giving up a salon for a summary list. There are lots of those out there, Flutterby, Instapundit, Reddit to name just a few. Very useful and interesting linkages, if that's what one wants. So is violetimpudence.
What you have here is akin to a small but fascinating group of friends in your parlor for conversation about thoughts and ideas you present. Your posts here are obviously well thought out and profound. Your group of friends enjoys interacting with you on an intellectual level that Twitter and/or Tumblr will never achieve.
Why are you still here among the weeds when you could be smelling the flowers?
I find it interesting that you extol the virtues of pessimism and then proceed to point us toward the sunshine. To me, optimism and pessimism have little, if anything, to do with intelligence. They describe a state of mind, not an IQ level. You seem to have tired of the effort to write lengthy, thought-provoking posts at this location, and that, of course, is fine. It's your journal, use it as you will. But whether or not your friends have moldy bathrooms should have little, if any, impact upon your decision.
I'll keep dropping by, hoping there will still be the occasional salon atmosphere to enjoy. Also, I guess I wasn't aware that you had finished transferring over the LJ archive stuff. Haven't looked lately. Will do so, presently. A tout a l'heure, mon ami.
-- 16:42, 28 April 2011 (BST)
And off topic - thank you for the latest "flower" you have provided elsewhere. That happened to be your leprosy-link - thanks to your reminder I found some really interesting info about local politics and leprosy.
-- 16:47, 28 April 2011 (BST)
Bunny: I am extolling the virtues of pessimism, and I believe in them, but I don't necessarily want a REPUTATION as a pessimist - I'm tired of that.
Or, put another way, I may have decided that only pessimism is sane, but I no longer see a constructive reason why I should vent that pessimism to all of you. You can go make your own pessimism just fine without me.
I'm tired of writing at length on anything; it's become a dead art and my time is frankly better squandered on frivolities.
I don't LIKE having to sacrifice the salon. Not at all. But I really have nothing much to put in this space anymore, at least for now. This is me metaphorically putting dustcovers on all the furniture, making sure the furnace is shut off, and telling the postal service to forward my mail for the time being.
I have NOT finished transferring the LJ archives; they're all here, but they are not tagged and probably not searchable, nor are they linked in any systematic way.
-- 17:00, 28 April 2011 (BST)
That is a lovely, if sad, analogy, the part about the dustcovers and the mail. It reminds me of the old woman you once described, dressed shabbily, with wild, fly-away hair.
You needn't write for anyone but yourself. If you don't feel like it, right now, we will all be the poorer for it, but there's Tom Robbins, et al. to keep us busy until you again, perhaps, locate your muse. I found your pieces on pessimism as it related to you to be heartbreakingly passionate and sincere, and I so admire your gift with words. Hide it under a bushel if you must, but know that it will be missed.
Meanwhile, I'll go check out the archives. I know there's lots of stuff I haven't read.
-- 18:38, 28 April 2011 (BST)
"Pessimism leads to 'it's broken bad, let's try to fix it.' Optimism leads to, 'oh, well, I suppose I can live with that' and the slow creep of rot."
I disagree completely and think you have this exactly backwards. Pessimism says, "It's broken, there's no way to fix it/it takes too much effort to fix/it'll just get broken again." Optimism says, "It's broken, let's try to fix it." Trying to fix something implies a belief that the something is fixable, improvable. That belief is the cornerstone of optimism.
Pessimists give in to entropy. Optimists see the work as worthwhile, even if there's going to be some heat loss.
My own view of the world is as a cynical optimist; that is, I prepare for the worst, but hope for better. And net of everything, I see the world getting better, and my life getting better, all the time.
-- 20:42, 28 April 2011 (BST)
BTW, I can't figure out how to comment on Tumblr. Clicking on the "comments" line does nothing. And, apparently, no one but me comments on the LJ feed that Nonelvis set up.
-- 16:30, 29 April 2011 (BST)
Robert, I didn't have to sign up with Tumblr, as I thought I would. I just click on Comments and a box appears. I've about quit following the feed on LJ, because, as you point out, nobody is commenting there. To be fair, though, not many are commenting on Tumblr, either. Pity. I wish they would.
-- 18:02, 29 April 2011 (BST)
Ah, I needed to enable cookies.
It is a highly annoying comment mechanism.
-- 18:49, 29 April 2011 (BST)
Thomas:
Re: "Why are you still here among the weeds when you could be smelling the flowers?"
You can be so condradictionally silly!
Of course we must be realistic enough to keep our eye on the weeds! As if we turn into clueless optimists who see only the flowers, then how can we keep the weeds under control?
You just told us yourself: "Weeds first and if there are any spare spoons left after that, then you might get to the flowers. That is the only sane way to do things!"
-- 16:28, 28 April 2011 (BST)