Today’s topic is optimism. I recently had a conversation with a dear friend about our approach to the world and how we perceive optimism. There are multiple ways to think about it, but two key aspects stand out: reality and attitude.
First, let’s consider reality. Is the world more good or more bad? How do we perceive it? My general view, though it varies, is that the world is more good than bad. However, bad people often wield more power than good ones. It's like a pool of water where one kid with a leaky diaper can pollute the whole thing. People with bad intentions can have a greater effect compared to those with good intentions. While I think we are overly scared at times, if you ask me what the world is like, I believe there are dramatically more good people than bad ones. Unfortunately, bad people have a disproportionate amount power. That’s the first part of this conversation—assessing the state of the world.
When talking to Moshe about this, we recognized that the question isn’t just about being objective. Here’s another way to frame it: Would you like to perceive the world accurately? Imagine that the world is 75% good and 25% bad. Do you want an accurate perception of that ratio? No. If you overemphasize the bad and think it's 70% bad, it will paralyze you. Conversely, if you inaccurately perceive the world as 95% good, you’ll persevere and be disappointed from time to time.
So now the question is, do we want to perceive the world accurately, too positively, or too negatively? Both Moshe and I concluded that we want to experience the world as being more positive than it is. The energy needed to engage with the world depends on your optimism. Optimism isn’t just a description of reality; it’s a state of mind. Being more optimistic and positive encourages you to try more things. Yes, you'll fail more often, but you'll also succeed more.
We agreed that while there's lots of bad out there, we want to adopt an overly optimistic perspective. It may seem strange to intentionally adopt a biased view of the world, but doing so influences our motivation and willingness to act. Believing that the world is more positive than it really is gives us more energy to try new things.
This brings us to our final question: How do we judge life? Do we measure it by what we chose not to do due to caution? By our failures? Or by our successes? I believe we judge life by our successes. Positive influences define our lives. When I reflect on my own life, I remember my accomplishments far more than my failures or mistakes.
So what's the conclusion? Is the world good or bad? I’m not sure. But I do know that for me, a good life means having the energy to try new things and remembering successes over failures. Therefore, I'm in favor of over-optimism and selective memory.
In essence, over-optimism drives us to attempt more things and prevents us from dwelling too much on our failures. Here’s to over-optimism!
