"Pessimism has a bad reputation, but it is one of the kindest and most generous of philosophies. That’s because what often makes us sad and angry isn’t disappointment, but a sense that our hopes have not come true and that our lives are unusually bitter; that we have been singled out for particular punishment. Pessimistic ideas suggest otherwise. Life isn’t incidentally miserable, they tell us, it is fundamentally deeply difficult for everyone. This functions as an antidote to the oppressive modern demand to look on the bright side; allowing us to bond with others around an honest of admission of some truly sobering realities.
Here are some of our favourite pessimistic thoughts:
We reassure ourselves about the amount of time we have left by pegging our imagined death to the date of the average lifespan, without remembering that long before we reach that terminal point, we will have passed through years of growing infirmity, terror as our friends die off, a sense that we no longer feel at home in the world, a humiliation that anyone doing anything significant is decades younger than us, humiliating bladder problems and our own sexual repulsiveness. In other words: we must never hold back from a useful panic at how little time there is left.
When we resolve one major anxiety, we trust that calm will now descend and satisfy us: but all we’re really ever doing is freeing up space for an even more poisonous and aggressive worry to spring forth, as it always will. Life can only ever be a process of replacing one anxiety with another.
The greatest part of our suffering is brought about by our hopes (for health, happiness and success). Therefore, the kindest thing we can do for ourselves is to recognise that our griefs are not incidental or passing, but a fundamental aspect of existence which will only get worse – until the worst of all happens.
The only people we can think of as normal are those we don’t yet know very well.
We reserve a special place in our hearts for those who can’t see the point of us.
The best way to be a calmer and nicer person is to give up on everyone; the route to tolerance and patient good humour is to realise that one simply is, where it counts, irredeemably alone.
True wisdom: the recognition of just how often wisdom will simply not be an option.
Worldly success is the consolation prize for those unhappy driven souls who have redirected their early humiliation and sense that they weren’t good enough into ‘achievements’ – which will never make up for the unconditional love they will deep down always crave in vain.
Rather than imagining that they might feel guilt, people who have hurt us, in fact, typically start to hate us – for reminding them of their own meanness.
For paranoia about ‘what other people think’: remember that very few love, only some hate – and nearly everyone just doesn’t care.
We have begun to know someone properly whenever they have started substantially to disappoint us.
Choosing a person to marry is just a matter of deciding what particular kind of suffering we would like to commit ourselves to.
The cure for infatuation: Get to know them better."
Emotional Education: An Introduction
For most of history, the idea that the goal of our lives was to be happy would have sounded extremely odd. In the Christian story which dominated the Western imagination, unhappiness was not a coincidence, it was an inevitability required by the sins of Adam and Eve. For the Buddhists, life simply was in its essence a story of suffering. Then, slowly at the dawn of the modern age, a remarkable new concept came to the fore: that of personal fulfilment, the idea that happiness could be achievable both at work and in relationships.
Unfortunately this new concept coincided with a belief that the skills required to achieve happiness could be picked up outside of education. It is to this error that our current malaise can be traced... (continues)
Date missed:09/26/2017
ReplyDeleteIn the world the human opinion tends to be divided into two thought processes: optimism and pessimism. Optimism is a positive outlook on life and confidence in the future. An example of optimism would be viewing the glass as half full. Pessimism is the lack of confidence in the future and tending to think negatively. The example of pessimism would be a glass being half empty. Pessimism because of the nature of being the opposite of optimism is viewed as negative. However, to me, pessimism can be viewed as brutal honesty. Sure, you could sugar coat it for it not to sound as bad or spare someone else’s feelings. But at the end of the day the truth is still the same.
The philosophy of pessimism is that life is difficult for everyone. It also suggests that life is full of anxiety and if a person solves one anxious problem then another one will replace it. I think this is true as well. As humans we tend to only focus on the past or future, which increases anxieties of what could have been or what could be. Instead of taking a moment to step back and enjoy the present, most individuals just tend to stress about things out of their control. Control is a main component in anxiety. When a person feels that a situation is out of their control they tend to become more anxious. Symptoms of anxiety tend to subdue as soon as the individual feels in control of the situation. This ties into pessimism because one can never be in control of life, therefore they can never stop being anxious.
Some people can use this fear and anxiety as a drive for success. On the class blog, a quote states that people who constantly strive for success will "never make up for the unconditional love they will deep down always crave in vain." This is a unique view because the stereotype for someone who is rich and successful is that they have the downside of being lonely, despite all of their riches in life. It would also be interesting to study if human happiness is based off of filling a void, such as the case about with success but still needing love. Would the need of love for happiness be biological with humans needing a mate or would it be more psychological of wanting to care for another human? Either way people need other people. Ironically, anxiety makes it hard for people to interact with others. Some people have social anxiety which is usually based of a fear of judgement from other individuals. However this quote from the class blog , "For paranoia about ‘what other people think’: remember that very few love, only some hate – and nearly everyone just doesn’t care.", reminds us that these anxieties are merely a figment of our imagination. In reality, most people are so busy worrying about themselves that they do not have time to judge people they are briefly interacting with.
The Book of Life states that emotional intelligence is used when dealing with emotions, such as anxiety. Emotional intelligence is defined as "the quality that enables us to negotiate with patience, insight and temperance the central problems in our relationships with others and with ourselves.". This brings the question, if we were more emotionally intelligent would we then have less emotional issues? Emotional issues such as anxiety which leads to a pessimistic world view. If the answer to the question is yes, then we can go one step further to assume that this emotional intelligence could debunk pessimism all together, which is hard to believe. I think that no matter what skill levels humans gain they will still have a fear of the future.
Overall a balance should be found between the optimism and pessimistic perspectives. Maybe the glass is not half full or half empty but rather just at the half way mark of the glass. Pessimistic tendencies such as stressing about the future is normal for most people. As stated above, this fear could be used as a driving factor for success.