Meditation 9: Pessimism and Optimism

A hundred years ago a certain kind of pessimism was fashionable. The thought was that the world of the past, of the Greeks and Romans, of our legendary beginnings was over. Science took the mystery out of mysteries and left us with only our own ignorance, and this we can rectify as best we can. Our modern civilization robs life of its meaning while at the same time digs away at the supports of its own activity.

The pessimist expects that disaster is the natural outcome of the human adventure. The optimist lives in the same world as the pessimist but expects better things. It is not that the optimist doesn't recognize that disasters happen, but they happen to others. Pessimists feel that the deck is stacked against them, that if something is to go wrong, it is likely to go wrong for them.

Pessimism turns into a weariness of the world and all the world's business. Life is painful and short. People are basically selfish and greedy, and you can't trust them. What can go wrong will go wrong. Don't build up your hopes, for hopes are only the dreams of fools. Give up on life and it will finally give up on you, much to your relief, since the death of hope is also the end of despair.

Optimism chooses to believe against all the evidence of the pessimist that everything is for the best, that the trials and obstacles of life are here to teach us wisdom. There is either a divine providence that arranges everything for the best, or nature herself can be our guide. Look for the positive in everything. Keep your chin up. Hope for the best and don't despair.

Maybe both the pessimist and the optimist are partly right. The pessimist is right that death negates our best efforts, but wrong about what this means for human life. The optimist is right to live as though everything will turn out all right, though knowing that tragedy will strike. Perhaps it is safer to be a pessimist, because you are bound to be right in the end. Bad times come to everyone. It is riskier to be an optimist because the world can frustrate your expectations. Even so, and despite the inevitable end, it is better to live by making the best of what life offers, whether good or bad, than to hide from life in pessimistic resignation.