Thinking that things are more likely to turn out bad than good, or that it's safer to prepare
for the worst case (Premeditation of evil).
Pessimism can
contribute to loss of motivation.
Yet pessimism
might be a result of learned helplessness (education system), possibly as a result of
coercion and
punishment (detentions)
See also: Schopenhaueristic pessimism
If you relate to pessimism, when all the world is about optimism, it is a valid state of mind that often gets declined as a mental health problem, which paradoxically gets worse when there is little ability to relate with. The fact that it is called a problem may cause even more problems.
"BE PESSIMISTIC! It’s more important to notice problems.
Good known - Small boost to dopamine? Inspiration? But usually, it’s
only temporary. You also use up time that could have been spent on other
things.
Neutral
Good not known - No particular action needs to be taken due to good, so there’s no
particular gain here, nor is there any particular gain here.
Neutral
Problem known - Most pragmatic benefit, the human can solve, mitigate,
or endure the problem. At the very least, recognition of the problem can
lead to using logic
to assess whether there is a way out of the issue. (assuming the human
is not overwhelmed, which in itself is another topic)
Beneficial
Problem not known - A surprise attack on the human and a sense of
pressure and unease can disrupt logical thinking, and even if the human
can remain calm, there is now less time to logically think of
mitigation, or the person might even have to use their unreliable heuristics.
Regardless, even if the brain could function normally, there would have been
less preparation, as such the outcome would have been worse than if the
problem was known earlier
Threat"
Ironically, I think the more aware someone is, the more pessimistic they are. But I think it’s more important to notice problems in the first place. I used to prefer pessimism.
If you think about it, Evil will rule over Good, no matter how many good people there are; they cannot protect if a nuclear bomb is unleashed. Death of humans is inevitable. And inevitably cosmic indifference will occur and wipe out everything.
Wanting to avoid predators, or dark dangerous caves, likely led to this bias.
Most people may take pessimistic speech as a sign of depression, especially therapists who prioritize people to function well in the world, and within the world now, I consider its explicit cases where a pessimist functions well AND is well known in media extremely rare. Even if the person isn’t actually sounding depressed, most people will inevitably prefer optimism over pessimism due to societal norms and wanting to prevent their emotions from being negatively affected. Personally, I think pessimism is more realistic than irrational thinking. See: The dilemma of talking about bad things
Telling pessimists that their pessimism is "bad" or "wrong" can hurt them! It is their choice, it is subjective, and it can be a result of determinism from past events! It's like attacking a religion: even if it has little merit (like God's existence), it's still not a good idea! Rather than forcing them to convert, tell them about brain neuroscience only if they wish to, and let them make the final decision in the end, as the brain can only really be understood by the person themselves.
Forced optimism brings about pessimism due to a lack of
control. The baseline state of a human is already quite optimistic. The
overjustification effect will
strike if you try to force someone to feel specific emotions they
wouldn't naturally feel.
One very famous example is "You can do it" - prime example (also
axiomatically meaningless, if you use the same logic as "CAN I BREATHE")
Inherent optimism usually gets ruined by failure or the education system - learned helplessness
does not lead to optimism; optimism correlates with feelings of control:
absence from coercion! Yet some schools are quite intolerant of
meltdowns ("disruptive") or even the smallest signs of depression ("PR
liability"), and try to suppress negative feedback. In some cases, like
in my primary school, they forced students to smile. Sounds nice on
paper (especially in the media), until you realize that this is totally
against human biology! The sad do not get understood, which makes them
even sadder.
I was actually a pessimist for a long time and thought it was the right choice. Strangely, I think the more aware someone is, the more pessimistic they are. But I think it’s more important to notice problems in the first place, so it can work depending on mental capacity. But now, I've realized that even if it may be the most "right" choice logically, it might not be the most right choice pragmatically! Because the brain wasn't really designed to handle constant pessimism. Brain science is true. Life does not need to be fully logical. However, there still is an inner conflict with my past self, so it may take a while.
Related to premeditation of evil. If you overestimate, initially you are confident, but then disappointed later on. The reverse is the case for optimism. It's a bit tricky. I prefer realism or detachment. As long as it doesn't inhibit action, e.g., by stress, whatever works is fine.
On average, being pessimistic is good assuming it does not affect your emotions that much! The reality will be better compared to what you think.
Yes, worst case can paralyze brains.
However, its not the ultimate worst. I don't assume I get murdered
tomorrow. Because I can't do much about it!
Sometimes its better to prep for most likely scenario. Or the ones that bring about highest gains. And perhaps it's because it is easier (and more practical) to improve a bad situation to neutral than good to even good. Thus perhaps the theory that the brain prepares more for bad situations? Because it's actually true that bad situations need more fixing because higher stakes.
Focusing only on the task, but it takes training. If there is a correlation of pessimism with readiness.
For some things not doing the thing is worse than partially doing it - you sometimes only remember the most recent thing.
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