I think the same reason why people lie
Why are we so pessimistic?
131–140 of 150 posts
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#132I have another point of view here - there's power in overcoming adversity. Nearly every movie produced tells you that. But your average American doesn't face real adversity anymore. We are extremely comfortable. Extremely safe. But there's something inside us that needs this adversity, it needs to triumph, to overcome challenges. This is why we run marathons, punish ourselves in the gym, climb mountains. Some of us,…
You should watch ‘one punch man’ which is a satirical anime on Netflix which covers this exactly.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#133I think another aspect of this is when life is generally good you start to pay more attention to the little things, and generally there are going to be small annoyances in life. When someone is fighting to feed their family getting a good meal is a hugely uplifting thing, but when hunger isn’t an issue having food come later than you like at a restaurant becomes annoying. I’ve certainly experienced this in myself gro…
Same poverty background, also weekly church goers with kids. I didn’t realize that church manifesting a periodic physical act of thanksgiving would act as a reset. I feel my baseline is the same even with wealth beyond what I could have imagined as a kid.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Clinton raised and spent roughly 1.5X as much money as Trump. She also had near universal support from actors, sports figures, the media (aka the people Nike pays that money to). It didn’t win her the election. Some crappy banner ads on Facebook don’t even register against that.
Personally, I always feel unsure that the evidence that foreign propaganda affected the election is very strong. But I also feel that people making the case that the evidence isn't strong universally dismissively downplay the problem, which makes me distrust their argument. Your "some crappy banner ads" thing is exactly this. Your dismissal of the problem as only "some crappy banner ads" makes it seem like you haven'…
People dismiss the problem because there is no evidence that Russia had a meaningful impact on the election. You say that the evidence is "very strong" but I've not seen that at all.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultimately even the people who supposedly "see reality" are just seeing a subjective mental model of it.
You probably have experienced two people fighting with each other, both only living in their own information bubble, both claiming to see the truth. I agree with you that your understanding goes deeper realizing that both are just as much true and untrue, and just as much good or bad. But now comes the strange part. From this higher understanding you can't gain any more happiness. In fact either of them might be more…
The point I wanted to make was in fact that there is no such increase in ability. I was not claiming that I was able to see reality myself. On the contrary, it is most likely an impossible task.
In absolute terms we are all on the same level of understanding as a homeless man ranting at the bus stop.
The idea that we are tragically bereft of meaning because we are somehow too perceptive unlike those other people is an absurd fantasy.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
He did say 'average' American. The article is about why we're unreasonably pessimistic. You are illustrating the point.
Apparently most americans are one paycheck away from the that: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/most-americans-are-one-pay...
That's a clickbait headline.
According to the story itself, most Americans are on the verge of: "reducing spending elsewhere (26%), borrowing from family and/or friends (16%) or using credit cards (12%)."
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you are on the right track. I'm not sure the article is. Because the article keeps talking about objective realities. But human beings experience life subjectively. Making more than your brother in law is a big ego boost. Having the highest degree in your family, even if that is only a BA. Human beings judge ourselves subjectively. Technology has broken down borders, increased our self awareness and provided…
> So again, our individuality is lessened. But worse, you are average. Mediocre. When there's 100 biologists in the world, you can always find some way to be slightly different. With 3,000,000 biologists in the world, how could you expect to shine? When there's 100 biologists in the world, you probably aren't one of them. You would just be some mediocre uneducated nobody. How do you expect to shine? Of course, be it…
I think most peasants from the 17th century were very religious. They were given a special place by God.
The town halls now don't have that much effect. Complain about education? Worry about federal funding and national wide programs. It's not something that happened over night. It's been happening literally since the technology/science era, which I think of starting with Gutenberg.
BTW, I'm not saying education is a problem. I'm saying it has problems, unexpected consequences with the obvious good side.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's more. If Timmy does not make the competitive job market he might as well have been eaten by the lion. Which depends on access to right tutoring and right connections more than right skills. Getting eaten by a lion is less misery. And a lion you can fight with a few guys. Job market? Might as well be hitting a tank with your bare fists. If anything, it's the lack of control and not the level of adversity that…
Are you trolling? Getting eaten by a lion is in no way similar to not getting a 'good' job, in fact I'll go further and say it's not similar to not getting a job at all.
It actually is way worse than being eaten by a lion. Like long torture of varying degrees. There are worse kinds of torture but it is one of the most common, the other being social exclusion, and finally chronic illnesses.
Except this one nobody can really fix. The drawback of invisible poorly understood market processes with many inputs. The only thing you can try to do is make your chances better, be adaptable and adapt.
Even bad illness can often be abated with a few (commonly known as terrible) exceptions.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#139Well, inevitably you die ?
Optimism is about how you perceive how you will live in the meantime.
It's funny as "not better" is considered pessimistic.
Re: Why are we so pessimistic?
#140Part of the reason for pessimism is that the enormous progress of recent centuries is due to a set of liberal political philosophical ideas that are being rejected by an increasing number of nations. That implies that if the present political trends continue, then as some point in the coming decades progress for the world as a whole will reverse.
"It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea." - Robert Anton Wilson The idea of there being an right and wrong direction to history is flawed at best. The current rejection of liberal values didn't come out of nowhere either. Some people are unhappy and feel the system has failed them. This was the same reason that pushed liberal ideas to the forefront in the first pl…
What do you mean liberal?
Even drugs are not legalized, up until recently homosexual marriage was not recognized. People toil about the same hours, though more often mentally than physically now.
You have no direct choice in how to pick candidates for Senate or presidency - you can only pick from choices presented to you, and even there tribalism of the masses beats any individual choice. (The best you can hope for is picking a governor.)
Where is liberal in that? Where is the liberal, when all rulers are ivy league educated?