The seven laws of pessimism

30 January 2024, 01:01 PM

quote:
If life is better than ever before, why does the world seem so depressing?

https://quillette.com/2024/01/...n-laws-of-pessimism/

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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

30 January 2024, 10:02 PM

RealPlayer

Thanks for this. Good points to keep in mind, many of which had never occurred to me.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

30 January 2024, 10:27 PM

wtg

Glad you liked it. I’m working my way through a lot of the embedded links that take you to supporting material. Lots of good stuff.

30 January 2024, 11:31 PM

Steve Miller

I came here to post a link to the same piece.

My favorite quote:

“ But there is one realm that does follow the Law of Attraction, as the mathematician Spencer Greenberg has noted: in fact, we have expressly designed it to do so. Social media feeds work this way. In real life, if you pay attention to cute puppies while taking a walk, you will not be followed by hordes of cute puppies on your next walk. If you can’t resist rubbernecking a horrible car accident, you will not go on to see more horrible car accidents further down the road. But this is exactly what happens on social media when your attention is drawn to either cute puppies or horrific accidents. Even if you don’t consciously decide that you would like to see more cute puppies (by clicking the “follow” button on an account like The Dogist, say), the algorithm will pick up on your preference and give you more of what it thinks you want.”

31 January 2024, 12:52 AM

RealPlayer

Accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch onto the affirmative.
Don’t mess with Mr. In-between.

(Anybody recognize that?)

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

31 January 2024, 11:31 AM

big al

Yes, that's playing my song.

It wasn't always. I discovered a lot sbout myself from the book Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman years ago.

Big Al

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Money seems to buy the most happiness when you give it away.

Why does everything have to be so complicated, all in the name of convenience. -ShiroKuro

A lifetime of experience will change a person. If it doesn't, then you're already dead inside. -MarkJ

31 January 2024, 08:30 PM

RealPlayer

If I stopped watching all those news feeds, what would I do for the day?

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray