Talk:Optimism

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Minor change: I added in the part about "It is half-there". Not often heard, I believe it is still relevant as an example in the article. - User:Gingerkitteh

Isn't "It is half there," about the same as saying, "It is half full"? It still addresses the question by suggesting the quantity is half what it should be--and positively, noting what is still there instead of what is now absent. A more disinterested response would be to state a measurement without reference to maximum capacity: "The glass contains 105 mL of water." That is, this measurement is not relative (positively, negatively, or equally) to another.

Contents

[edit] Half Empty/Half full

I stumbled across this the other day, don't know wether it will have any relevence here, but still worth a look James' dissproof of pessimism


--- It's half full if it's just been half-filled. It's half empty if someone just half emptied it. This isn't philosophy - it's just argument over language. Wittgenstein would be spinning in his grave... CWM


[edit] Psychology Section

This section should be flagged for bias. It equates optimism with psychological well-being, which cannot be proven. For example:

I feel the best possible outcome will happen when I execute my plan to rob a bank. I'm not robbing the bank because I need money. When I was a kid a bank teller gave me a funny look.

The example shows a clearly unstable psychological profile, yet also a clear optimism.

It may not be equivalent to psychological well-being, but the two are certainly correlated, as per the references. Feezo (Talk) 02:26, 22 January 2008 (UTC)
Reverted an apparent vandalism (insertion of "woo") in this section. Jackrepenning (talk) 23:45, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Optimism about known and unknown facts?

I think that 1. optimism about known facts (Is the glass half full or half empty? Has my life been happy or unhappy?) is completely different from 2. optimism about unknown facts (I'll win in this lottery; I'm sure that he must have survived).

Optimism 2. is about how much luck one expects. Optimism 1. is about how to relate to things.

Is there any widespread terminology for these concepts? Does this current article on optimism now explain optimism 1. only? Emmisa 14:11, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Image

I made an image that represents optimism, if it doesn't make sense please remove or replace it. Thank you. M&NCenarius 06:41, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

... I very like it. --euyyn 20:47, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Remain encyclopedic in content and form, please

Form:

Optimism is represented by the color rose (just as its opposite, pessimism, is represented by the color grey).

By who? Has that representation of ideas by color a name? Is it somehow standard?

And content:

According to a ten-year-long research project, it is proven that possessing an optimistic world view increases one's IQ by at least ten points.

LOL Coooooome ooon!!!!

--euyyn 21:04, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Relating to the optimism-IQ relationship, high IQ scores have a high correlation with depression, which implies pessimism. So, optimism may increase your IQ score, but it most likely applies to those in the low and middle parts of the spectrum. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 35.11.156.115 (talk) 03:55, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nirmit Patel

Where the article now mentions Leibniz for the first time, under the philosophy heading, it formerly mentioned a "Nirmit Patel." I don't know who this is, but I'm fairly certain the reference is Leibniz, as would be indicated also by the reference to him in the followng paragraph. --Delong71487 03:23, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Newbyguesses 10:02, 28 March 2007 (UTC)well if we wish to discuss OPTIMISM and be optimistic, thenPangloss <the best of all possible worlds> and Pollyanna both deserve a mention

[edit] List of famous optimist

I suggest that any list of famous optimistic people added to this page, is limited to only those people who where famous for their optimism, or whose optimism was famously a part of their character. Maybe one could argue that Karl Marx was an optimist, but that is not what he is famous for... For now, I'm going to remove the entire list. SevenMass 14:07, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Constant

Is optimism constant or can it change to pessimism, and than back to optimism? Because that happened to me. 83.228.89.2 (talk) 20:55, 8 February 2008 (UTC)