Pessimism is a barrier to progress • Hacker News Board

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#31

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:22 AM UTC

It’s funny. I tend to take a practical, skeptical approach to Making Things Happen.

My work is always colored with thoughts like “What happens when the user does this…” or “The last time I tried that, my toenails fell off,” etc.

People call that “pessimism,” and I’m often attacked as a “negative naysayer.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have a long, long record of Getting Things Done.

I ship; regularly and consistently. I do that, by anticipating problems, and architecting designs that are high Quality, secure, localizable, accessible, well-documented, performant, flexible, robust, long-lasting, maintainable, and complete (in a pretty short, predictable, timeframe).

I’m also a good problem-solver. Roadblocks don’t tend to last long, when I roll up my sleeves.

If you want pie-in-the-sky, shoot-for-the-moon dreams, I may not be the correct person to talk to; mostly because I’m admittedly fairly well-grounded, and less likely to come up with these ideas.

But if you’d like to actually make your dream into a reality, then someone like me is a good bet.

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#32

Post by quickthrower2 » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:23 AM UTC

hoseja wrote: post #26

Do you not have enough progress? We need like five centuries of stagnation just to consolidate the runaway train of progress in the last ~200 years alone.

Human mind hardware has not changed though!

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#33

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:26 AM UTC

kirab wrote: post #25

Optimism and Pessimism are viewed very differently in different Countries (Germany vs USA) and even Regions (Silicon Valley vs idk Utah). Apart from that I think the article is mostly wrong. To make progress you need agency and self-confidence. The effects of Optimism and Pessimism are very context-dependent. Just one example: A very driven and confident pessimist might be much more motivated to find a solution for C…

[deleted]

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#34

Post by worldsayshi » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:26 AM UTC

PeterStuer wrote: post #10

You might want to click through a few times on this. Basically this is WEF propaganda saying how billionaires are good for the world, and urge you not to get in their way with criticism or be labeled a doomsayer, negative Andy or 'pessimist'.

I'm definitely on the left side of the political spectrum. But I am very frustrated by how leftism seems so often be so centred on critique (a negative trait) rather than building ideas/stuff.

"Speaking truth to power" is not really working because power doesn't care. Organizing seldom leads anywhere because it's just interpreted as more of "speaking truth to power" through protest. More critique. If a power structure is bad and it doesn't listen to you yelling louder doesn't really work. Complaining doesn't work. There needs to be something positive. Something that creates an alternative. But somehow the right owns the idea of entrepreneurship and unions are out of fashion and have maybe stagnated as a concept so the left is stuck protesting.

/Rant

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#35

Post by hk1337 » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:26 AM UTC

Pessimists push the Optimists to prove they are right. As a pessimist, you need to allow yourself to be proven wrong.

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#36

Post by TheCapeGreek » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:27 AM UTC

kixxauth wrote: post #8

I've considered myself an optimist for most of my life. But, starting in about 2014 I started to find myself being more of a pessimist more of the time. It got to the point in 2020 where I found myself pessimistic about pretty much everything. You know what I noticed? It takes a lot of energy to be pessimistic and pissed off all the time. So, instead, I'm trying to remain focused and motivated by the wrongs I would l…

I've turned to optimism this year as well, after being a lifelong pessimist. I realised the same - it takes up way too much energy and I end up doing nothing.

Either not stressing all the time will make me do more, or at least I'll feel better. That's still a win for my mental health if nothing else. I'm still well aware of all the problems around me, and try to help where I can, but beyond that point I maintain some personal distance.

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#37

Post by snickmy » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:29 AM UTC

kixxauth wrote: post #8

I've considered myself an optimist for most of my life. But, starting in about 2014 I started to find myself being more of a pessimist more of the time. It got to the point in 2020 where I found myself pessimistic about pretty much everything. You know what I noticed? It takes a lot of energy to be pessimistic and pissed off all the time. So, instead, I'm trying to remain focused and motivated by the wrongs I would l…

Can I ask you how old you were when that happened. I think a lot of that happen organically for everyone, it just happened to you in 2014. I'd guess 25-30y old ?

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#38

Post by sanitycheck » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:30 AM UTC

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #31

It’s funny. I tend to take a practical, skeptical approach to Making Things Happen. My work is always colored with thoughts like “What happens when the user does this …” or “The last time I tried that, my toenails fell off,” etc. People call that “pessimism,” and I’m often attacked as a “negative naysayer.” Nothing could be further from the truth. I have a long, long record of Getting Things Done. I ship ; regularly…

That's me, too.

I think in order to found a startup one needs to be an optimist. The risks are high, chances of success are low, it's a lot of work and a ton of stress.

But in order for that startup to achieve anything, it needs realists (optimists call them pessimists, or can't tell the difference) to figure out what might go wrong and and keep it all on track.

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#39

Post by tlarkworthy » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:30 AM UTC

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." -- Roosevelt

I am suprised the author has such a low opinion of optimism. After internalising Roosevelt I have actively tried to temper cynical thought when interacting with others. It's easy to throw stones and find fault but its much more powerful to be in the driving seat of change (which innately requires optimism)

Re: Pessimism is a barrier to progress

#40

Post by dathinab » Wed, Oct 05, 2022, 10:32 AM UTC

Worse then pessimism is taking Patents seriously.

Because anyone who does can basically no longer innovate anything at all as there is probably a patent about some aspect of you innovation (which should never have been issued). Patents on the level of patenting trivial things like automatically shutting down unneeded resources.

In a caring about (such) patents is for innovation like endless pessimism for your live, okay maybe more like being depressed or having an anxiety disorder.