As I type this, I’m looking at a water bottle with an inspirational sticker with an inspirational slogan on it: “Make your optimism come true,” so why not write a little about the benefits of optimism?
Optimism, the belief that good things will happen, is, of course, contrasted with pessimism, the belief that the worst will happen. It is impossible to deny that many, many bad things happen to many, many people, so at first glance it might seem that pessimism is warranted. But looking deeper at it, pessimism is ultimately self-defeating, while optimism opens a bridge of hope for a better future.
We can consider the optimism/pessimism divide in the same framework as Pascal’s wager, which posits that belief in God is logical, since if one does not believe and God exists, one gains eternal torment; if one believes and god exists, one gains eternal bliss; while if one does not believe and God does not actually exist, nothing is lost (more or less; I’m simplifying here). By the same token, we can imagine quadrants of optimism/pessimism:
| Optimism | Pessimism | |
| Best happens | Was hopeful, then validated | Was miserable, then proven wrong |
| Worst happens | Was hopeful, then suffered setback | Was miserable, then had worst fears confirmed |
What I am saying is that things are going to turn out good or bad, sometimes regardless of whatever we do. Let’s say we are awaiting the results of medical tests: we can fret and moan about how terrible they will be, which isn’t going to change the outcome at all, though it robs us of happiness while we are waiting. If, on the other hand, we had been optimistic, we would have had at least some good times before the hammer fell.
So the optimist, in their worst case scenario, loses once, white the pessimist, in their best cast scenario, loses twice.
Of course, there are often times when we can do much to change future outcomes; in these cases, pessimism is absolutely a killer, because it ensures that we are going to have a terrible attitude, which then translates into poor preparation. Pessimists may find that their gloominess becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Imagine someone who shows up to a party convinced no one is going to ask them to dance: they stand around with a sour look on their face, scowling at those on the dancefloor. Is it really surprising that no one asks them to dance? The optimist, on the other hand, shows up confident that they’ll be asked to dance and has a good time, so that at end of the evening it doesn’t really matter if they got asked to dance. Maybe they even asked someone else to dance.
The other layer here is that, for better or worse (I would argue worse), many people consider pessimism to be cooler than optimism. Pessimism certainly requires less vulnerability than an optimistic outlook, since it is easy to sit in the back of the room and roll our eyes when other people are sincerely trying to make things better. There’s an unhealthy strand of thought that labels the spontaneous expression of genuine enthusiasm or engagement as “cringe.” High irony diets might insulate us from judgment, but they–and the pessimism that underlays them–also prevent us from trying to do better. It’s when the fear of failure overwhelms the hope for success that pessimism thrives.
It is much easier to mock than to create, because mocking carries only a small risk (that someone will criticize you, but then you can just say that they are uncool), while creating something means putting yourself out there. Is the current mania for AI one way that people seek to limit the risk of being thought a fool for creating something substandard or just plain stupid? Now that I think about it, this is a real possibility. Why else would people farm out their self-expression, but that they are afraid at their core that what they would say on their own isn’t worth saying? Relying on someone (or something) else for our words is another expression of pessimism, since it is either saying “I don’t think I can say what I want to say,” or conceding that others will be so unforgiving of our potential mistakes that we would rather have an airless, technically precise, vague block of words than an authentic but flawed appeal from our heart.
The optimist, instead, will have faith in both their own self-expression and their listeners’ or readers’ forbearance. Expecting to be met kindly, the optimist speaks in their own voice, perhaps softly at first but with growing confidence as they find their audience.
I want to circle back to that message on the water bottle: “Make your optimism come true.” I like a lot about that simple sentence. The first word, “make,” gives us agency: there are things we can do to get the positive outcome we foresee. “Your optimism” suggests that we have had a constructive, hopeful mindset from the start. “Come true” offers a successful delivery on the promise made by hope. It is only five words, but it says so much.
Is badging your hydration solution with a saying like that corny, cheesy, or cringe? I think you know what I think: it isn’t, not at all. Instead, it offers some help, some encouragement to someone who might need to be reminded of the essential rightness of optimism. And you never know who that might be.
Even in the face of bad break after bad break, we find the courage to be optimistic, because what is the alternative? Neil Peart said it best: “We could be down and gone but we hold on.” Giving up might seem like an easy out, but we hold on because we have to have faith in a better future.
I guess in the long run, the pessimists are right, because one day everyone who is reading this will have their heart stop and they will cool to room temperature. But until then, there are so many possibilities that it seems a waste to give up.
Bad things are going to happen, but good things are out there too, and if optimism even slightly shifts the odds for us, Pascal might tell us we would be fools to bet on disappointment.
So until next time, expect the unexpected, stay informed, and I’ll stay informal.
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