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Wilddog73 t1_j2u4mvx wrote

Reply to comment by unassumingdink in Look on the dark side | We must keep the flame of pessimism burning: it is a virtue for our deeply troubled times, when crude optimism is a vice by ADefiniteDescription

I'm not talking about that right now, I'm talking about how they treat their fellow man when they ask what's going on.

The pessimism that leads them to brush off their curiosity and escalate conflict.

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unassumingdink t1_j2u88i5 wrote

The pessimism is what comes after decades of optimism didn't work. And from decades of being on the receiving end of bad faith arguments engineered by oil industry propagandists, tested on focus groups for maximum impact, and disseminated among purportedly well-meaning optimists. Yeah, some people are gonna get snippy with you after dealing with that. And anyway, there comes a point when optimism is indistinguishable from delusion. The eternally optimistic make it a point of pride not to be convinced of anything that threatens their optimism, and thus their worldview. Convincing people like that feels about as achievable as trying to talk a devout religious person out of their religion.

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Wilddog73 t1_j2uehb2 wrote

Blind faith/optimism as you describe is bad, but full-on pessimism is if anything, blowing up in their faces at the moment.

It isn't proving to be anymore of a viable solution as "eternal optimism" is.

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