Optimist, Pessimist or Nihilist, and why?

[AdeptaSororitas]

So I've been lurking the forums of the Escapist for a long time, and I notice the many and varied life views on here. From "Everyone is inherently good" to "There's no fucking purpose to life" And I have to wonder which is the Norm on here my Hypothesis it that it will be Pessimism, but I may be surprised, pleasantly or otherwise.

Heres how I'm framing the choices, simply for my own ease, I fully understand that I may oversimplify or just screw up a definition, just bear with me.

Optimism: Everything will turn out okay/ people are inherently good.
Pessimism: Most things will not end well/ People are dicks.
Realist: No ones a realist, you are just one of the other choices in disguise.
Nihilist: Life has no purpose/ People live to die.

Edit: I feel a bit unfair, I have yet to state my outlook: I'm an Optimist, things can and will improve, and I truly believe that people are good, just misguided or scared.

Edit: Thank you those who corrected my error of Nihilism and Fatalism. I was a little sleepy and forgot the term

Edit: Also, I'm not saying realists don't exist in general, I'm saying that 99% of "realists" I've met are Pessimists or Nihilists who believe that thats how the real world is. Thus "realist"

 

[sms_117b]

Optimist, I have a history of depression and a minor bi-polar problem, any other outlook on life results in another episode annoyingly, I have to keep optomistic or things get on top of me basically

 

[Aris Khandr]

Generally an optimist, but I can be pessimistic on certain topics (like my love life).

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Optimist.

From my experience, things always work themselves out for the better. Life is too short to spend the majority of it worrying about things.

Whatever happens, happens.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

I've always been an optimist and sometimes when things are going down for me i listen to this song to get me cheery again.

 

[standokan]

I can be sad at times but I grind through.

 

[OldKingClancy]

Pessimist, it's just easier that way.

Honestly I don't know why, I just seem to prefer being negative. I probably shouldn't but I do.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

Pessimist, if you don't have any expectations then you can't be dissapointed, only pleasently surprised.

 

[dmase]

You see the search bar at the top. Type in Pessimist, if you look through the threads i'm willing to be you come on to five almost exactly like yours not in the first page but probably in the first five pages.

Optimist these days, use to be a pessimist. Then I got rid of my dark cloud and woah suddenly life looks up.

 

[BanicRhys]

Realist, because you can't tell me what I think.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Realist. No matter how much you don't think they exist, they do. I am neither entirely happy nor can I just see the positive and good things and I am not entirely unhappy and just see all the bad and negative things. I see both sides of everything and on that topic there is no actual good or evil either. It is all a matter of how you look at things.

 

[ultrachicken]

Pessimist, if you don't have any expectations then you can't be dissapointed, only pleasently surprised.

Are you really so afraid of disappointment that you want to spend almost your entire life in a gloom state to avoid it? I've never understood that particular justification for pessimism.

OT: I believe that some people are good, some are bad, and that there is no way to accurately have knowledge as to how many are in each camp or in the middle ground, so there's no point in trying. Feel free to try lumping me into one of your listed demographics if you want, OP, but I'm certainly not going to.

 

[Liquid Paradox]

realist, leaning towards optimist. I can be happy just for the sake of being happy, because it really does make my life better; yet I'm not an idiot. I know good things don't just happen because I want them to. Then again, neither do bad things.

If something is in your life, it's because you drew it there, and because on some level, it serves you.

- Jon White

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Realist, because you can't tell me what I think.

This. I honestly can't pigeon hole myself into any of the other three categories because they all have a basis in truth so in my opinion to favor one above the others is misguided.

I always do my best to maintain hope even at the worst of times, to the point of telling myself "well, at least things can only get better from now on." This is optimistic of me.

However; While I hope for the best I always expect the worst. This is inherently pessimistic.

Sometimes I also just wonder what the hell the point of the first two attitudes are when all the optimism or pessimism in the world can't possibly save me from the inevitable. This is fatalism.

So tell me, what am I if not a realist? I acknowledge that it is always possible for my luck to improve and hope for a positive outcome, whilst always remaining prepared for things to go from bad to worse. I am also fully aware that sooner or later myself and everything I have ever known will end. I do not dread it, I do not let it stop me from enjoying life, but I do accept it as fact.

 

[conmag9]

I think of myself as relatively optimistic. I'm told that I'm quite pessimistic however, so there you are. Perhaps it's because I rarely smile when I'm around people I'm 100% comfortable around (yes, you read that right). Way I see it, while the "never expect good things and you'll only ever be pleasantly surprised" argument makes a certain degree of sense, it hardly motivates advancement, improvement or, for that matter, happiness. Controlled optimism seems workable.

Definitely not a fatalist though.

 

[Berithil]

I'm more of a realistic optimist. I try to see the best in people and situations but smart enough to know that some people are just plain bad. I have a "yeah, things are bad right now and its possible that they may get worse, but lets hope for and try to achieve the best" point of view.

 

[Gralian]

I'm a realist, and i don't give a shit how you try to label me otherwise.

Life is "Nasty, brutish and short". Get used to it. Humanity exists purely to exercise pleasures of the flesh, then become wormfood. We aren't built for some sort of divine purpose. No-one does something for nothing. To think otherwise is naive.

Yeah, you might get the odd one or two individuals who are the exception to the rule. But the rest of humanity? They couldn't give a flying fuck about you or any charity case. People will play anyone like a fiddle to further their own goals. The optimist doesn't want to see that, instead filling fairy-tale ideals of humanity's "better nature" to disguise our more primal behaviour.

"I am a cynic; therefore, i am never disappointed."

 

[Simalacrum]

Definitely an optimist here. I always think that pessimism is kinda useless, and even harmful; being optimistic and seeing the good side of things can be a morale booster, which is very important :3

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

Pessimist, if you don't have any expectations then you can't be dissapointed, only pleasently surprised.

Are you really so afraid of disappointment that you want to spend almost your entire life in a gloom state to avoid it? I've never understood that particular justification for pessimism.

OT: I believe that some people are good, some are bad, and that there is no way to accurately have knowledge as to how many are in each camp or in the middle ground, so there's no point in trying. Feel free to try lumping me into one of your listed demographics if you want, OP, but I'm certainly not going to.

I'm basing my definition of pessimism on this:

3. The doctrine or belief that the evil in the world outweighs the good.

My state of gloom is not perennial, I just hold no expectations for a positive outcome unless there is strong convincing evidence to suggest otherwise and even then it's healthy to have an air of skepticism about you. I'm not afraid of dissapointment, I just find optimistic outlooks to be unrealistic. There's good to be found in this world, but it's fairly sparce and I don't see any reason to lie to myself. If I can expect the worst possible outcome, then I can prepare for it's repurcussions, pick up the pieces and carry on. If the outcome is positive then the result is all the sweeter.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Realist. No matter how much you don't think they exist, they do. I am neither entirely happy nor can I just see the positive and good things and I am not entirely unhappy and just see all the bad and negative things. I see both sides of everything and on that topic there is no actual good or evil either. It is all a matter of how you look at things.

Pretty much this.

I see both sides of things, the very awesome and the downright ugly, and acknowledge them for what they are. I don't see how realists don't exist, they do, and that's a pretty bold thing to say, either that or just plain cynical.