I am a self confessed cynic. I am also a natural pessimist and I believe that the two go together. Us pessimists are not born, we are made and I have been quite well crafted. I recognise that my basic training was carried out in the family "home", but my finishing school has been the university of life.
I have briefly tried optimism, and although it does have short term advantages, all that happens is that you set yourself up for more falls.
Those with a religious faith are optimists. They see the good in everyone and believe that there is something else after life. Believing that everyone is fundamentally good is a big mistake and makes one very gullible and subject to abuse. There are people out there who will buy anything from anyone, in the belief that people are honest. There is a whole black economy based upon that, oh, them and the other gullibles who believe in a free lunch and a bargain.
I believe that there are plenty of really good people out there and that they outnumber the others, but I also believe that some are born or made bad and that any vestige of goodness has evaporated. These are dangerous people and their numbers increase day by day.
Cynicism comes from experience and continually being let down and or disappointed, believing in people and then having that taken away, being fed lines and having expectations raised, only to see those dreams torn away.
Cynicism and pessimism have their advantages too. I am not easily convinced by any argument and very dependent upon evidence, I will no longer be sold anything at all. I may choose to buy but I will not let another person sway me. I guess that makes me a cold person, and one that people don't get close to, and that is fine by me. Having no expectations means no more disappointments.
It seems a shame to me that those who devote thier lives to preparing for the next, will never experience the disappointment of finding out that they were wrong. Maybe that is an argument in favour of optimism!
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