Optimism vs. Pessimism

I’m going to address the equality of optimism to pessimism first as this is a double standard which Pro continues to perpetrate. Let’s start with my opening statement which Pro has repeatedly taken out of context “Pessimism gets a bad rap, but it’s no better or worse than optimism. Both have their place, and when it comes to what is most important in life, humans can’t afford to be optimistic.” Pro stops at the first sentence and wants you to pretend the second one doesn’t exist. My argument has always been that when it comes to what is most important in life pessimism is better. Pro sees the statement of “no better or worse” as conceding, but I qualified that statement unlike Pro. If anyone has conceded the match Pro has with same statements of “a balance between optimism and pessimism” and “I acknowledged the utility of pessimism and realism, and noted that balance is required along with the need for determined optimism.”. Pro and I agree they are equal and balance is required. My argument is a sub-set of that: which is more important if you can only choose one. This debate is optimism versus pessimism and while I agree a healthy happy person needs both for life and death situations, pessimism is the better choice.I have shown that expecting a negative is better than expecting a positive outcome in my points 1-51) It won’t all work itself out1a) Shelter – Better to expect it won’t be created for you1b) Food - Better to expect that it won’t be given to you2) You need a job if you like to eat2a) Job – Better to expect you won’t just find job2b) Pay – Better to expect you will need a good paying job3) Buying lottery tickets and going to casinos isn’t a good investment strategy3a) Lottery – Better to expect you will not win the lottery3b) Casino – Better to expect you are not going to win4) They will do it again4a) Cheater – Better to expect they will cheat again4b) Abusers – Better to expect they will abuse again5) Doormats are the pavement for other people’s happiness5a) Coworkers – Better to expect they will continue to take advantage of you5b) Friends – Better to expect they will not return all your time and energy at some future dateBasic needs are the foundation of all other needsPro can try to contend that basic needs aren’t the most important aspect but we all know innately that when you are starving/freezing to death you don’t care how many friends you have. When you can’t afford to feed and house your children you don’t care if you’re the life of the party. When you finally get a little bit of money we know that blowing it on long shot expectations is a bad move. We ALL have seen and likely dealt with individuals who take and never give, and we know that they will never change. For the first three levels of Maslow’s chart expecting the negative is not only important it’s a matter of survival. I agree once you get past that point optimism is more important, that has never been my argument. My argument has always been pessimism is better when it comes to what is “most important in life”. For basic needs, pessimism is bestWe live in a great country and many of us don’t spend time thinking about the basics of life nearly as much as we should but when we do (as I have proven) pessimism is the best choice. Adults have all seen enough of life to know that expecting things to magically get better doesn’t work. To get anything done we must expect the negative, work toward fixing it, and “expect” that it won’t happen unless we do it. This is pessimism that is driving you, you are not expecting positive results so you must create those results. As I mentioned in round 3 “Affirmation feels good, but it doesn't prompt you to summon the resources and strategies to actually accomplish the task.” This is a key point to Pro’s trickery. An attempt to take everything good and attribute it to optimism but that’s simply not how it works. Expectation is not the same thing as hopeMaybe Pro truly believes that expecting success at the end of expecting failure is optimism and that pessimism somehow doesn’t exist in that scenario. But take a step back and think about your expectations because this debate is all about expectations. As a painter who’s made a few paintings and failed miserably, expect that you will fail more to get better, you don’t “know” that you will ever be a great painter, but you may have hope that you will, but that is NOT an expectation. This is the flaw where Pro tries to attribute everything to optimism as I have shown before. Being hopeful that something will happen isn’t optimism. Example - Expectation is pessimism even if you have hopeAs this seems to need another example. You have a wad of paper and you are 30 feet from the waste basket. From experience, you expect to miss this shot, this means you are pessimistic about the outcome of throwing that wad of paper and it’s completely natural. It doesn’t make you want to curl up in a ball and die or slit your wrist because you’ve lost the will to live. You can be hopeful that you make the shot but do you expect the shot to land? This is the key part of Pro’s trickery. You aren’t expecting (optimistic) to make the shot, it’s too far, you missed the shot before, and you expect (pessimism) to miss the shot again but that doesn’t stop you from trying the shot, does it? Don’t buy in to Pro’s attempt to attribute everything good to optimism. Rebuttal – Cause and effectSaying that optimism causes happiness is not the same thing as saying it’s better to expect the worst even if you hope for the best. I’m not claiming (as Pro is) that pessimism causes you to achieve your basic needs, I don’t believe pessimism (or optimism) have that much power. I’m claiming that to achieve your basic needs it is better to expect a negative outcome than a positive one. It’s better to expect that my point 1 and 2 are true and that it won’t work itself out, that you need to get a good job to cover your needs. There is no contradiction when I say that if I can prove other things cause happiness Pro’s points are broken because Pro’s argument (unlike mine) is about cause and effect. My argument is that being pessimistic gives you a better chance at success, not that it causes success. Pro is delusionalI think Pro’s whole argument comes down to her delusional associations to optimism. This is best shown that Pro believes that I’m an optimist when it comes to ForDebating.com stating “optimism is required in order to take on a new business venture.” Con knows this; he is optimistic that his future website will be a success, despite the pessimism of others. If he were a pessimistic person, he would not be pursuing this opportunity in the first place.” I have freely stated to pro in the forums that creating ForDebating.com is a bad business venture for me, and I expect failure for several years with it. I have set it up in such a way to cover zero income for 3 years because not only do I not expect it to be successful, but I expect it to cost me money. Pro still views me as optimistic, because I am starting a business? Obviously if I don’t EXPECT ForDebating.com to be success for years, I’m not optimistic. My expectation is that it won’t be successful, even going so far as to say, “well see” as to what will happen in at the end of those three years when the money runs out. I’ve never owned a website, I don’t code, and I have weak deescalating skills. Based on all of these facts I would be a fool to expect to be successful at this. The reason I’m doing it is my passion for debating. I want somewhere to debate 1v1 like this, that is online all the time, isn’t buggy, isn’t slow, and people actually vote on debates. I’m not optimistic about the results. So much so, that after searching for another viable option and failing to find one, I am sinking 10k into this venture. This is not out of any form of optimism but out of sheer desperation. Sidebar - Con’s views on lifeAs Pro brought up my views on life I’m going to make an exception in etiquette and add information in my last round. My belief is that when it comes to the things like your financial future or where you're going to get your next meal, you had best be pessimistic. Don’t expect some rosy outcome or some white knight to come and save you, expect that no one is going to help you out. If you want safety, security, and freedom you WILL have to fight to get it. The system is rigged against you and you had better factor that in if you ever hope to achieve success. As the saying goes “plan for the worst but… hope for the best.” ConclusionPro wants to talk about how success equals optimism and how if you are successful or expect to be successful you must be optimistic. I contend that’s trickery on Pro’s part to make optimism more than it is. So, I’m going to leave you with this thought. If Pro’s stance is logically correct then according to her logic this situation should be true because they were successful: Someone who is successful at committing suicide is an optimist.