Is there REALLY a difference between being a realist and a pessimist?

[J. Gibbs]

I was having this discussion today with someone and was wondering what you guys think. So, is there a true and undeniable difference between being a realist or a pessimist? Or are they actually the same thing, but seen in different lights?

Edited August 29, 2013 by J. Gibbs

[Luka Petrovic]

I think realism would take a less emotional and more empirical approach. After the enlightenment our culture moved towards considering things real when they could be explained or deconstructed scientifically. Pessimism however doesn't necessarily have to have empirical backing and can actually tend to be more rooted in someone's feelings. The classic example of the cup to pessimists, is half empty. And to an optimist is half full. Meanwhile to a realist it is a 1 litre container filled to the 500 ml line. The pessimistic or optimistic opinion is expressed as soon as we put the empirical information into language, the main medium for emotional thoughts...

Edited August 30, 2013 by Luka Petrovic

[theboro76]

I think a realist looks at the most likely outcome, and like Luke, says uses more facts. As another example in a football game, an optimist (whose team is clearly favorite) would say his team is guaranteed to win, a pessimist would say they are almost certain to choke at the end, and a realist would say, that based on their record this season it looks likely that they would win. So further I believe a realist can have both positive and negative views on an event, depending on whats most factually likely.

[Luka Petrovic]

I think a realist looks at the most likely outcome, and like Luke, says uses more facts. As another example in a football game, an optimist (whose team is clearly favorite) would say his team is guaranteed to win, a pessimist would say they are almost certain to choke at the end, and a realist would say, that based on their record this season it looks likely that they would win. So further I believe a realist can have both positive and negative views on an event, depending on whats most factually likely.

Yeah it's emotion again... The optimist likes to keep morale high and the pessimist prefers to avoid disappointment by not having expectations at all.

[mm8888]

I think being a pessimist is think everything will go wrong and being a realist is knowing some things will go bad but also that some thing will be right its kind of giving an objective opinion without emotions

[Lord_Larius]

Just because two Groups share negative views Doesn't make them one and the same. Realist are people who don't let fantasies or Worry cloud their views by Definition. Pessimist are basically emos who would call 911 when one of their shoes go missing.

[StormySky]

Reality is quite unappealing most of the time and so realists are mistaken as pessimists. Just because reality doesn't match up to fantastical expectations does not mean that those who do not indulge in unnecessary fantasy are pessimists. Reality is harsh, period. Pessimism is just over thinking all the negative things that could possibly take place while realism is understanding the probability of both, the good and the bad occurring.

Optimists see the plants enjoying the rain, pessimists see the floods killing people and realists see precipitation taking place in the form of liquid.

[Luka Petrovic]

Reality is quite unappealing most of the time and so realists are mistaken as pessimists. Just because reality doesn't match up to fantastical expectations does not mean that those who do not indulge in unnecessary fantasy are pessimists. Reality is harsh, period. Pessimism is just over thinking all the negative things that could possibly take place while realism is understanding the probability of both, the good and the bad occurring.

Optimists see the plants enjoying the rain, pessimists see the floods killing people and realists see precipitation taking place in the form of liquid.

Lets look at this in the context of the stock market. An optimist would lose money as he would put it down, gamble it and hope for the best. A pessimist would never put his money down, keep it safe in slow growing stocks. A realist would use empirical evidence, data, stats and actually play the market and win it big! This is somewhat of a simplification, but I thought it put things into perspective in regards to the usefulness of each philosophy.

[-._._.-]

This reminded me of something:

During registration (the 20 minutes for taking attendance, announcements, discussion, etc.), we were discussing about being an optimist and a realist. Those two words were on the whiteboard and we were basically sitting in either the optimist group or the realist group.

Our IBC walked in and noticed those two words. Our tutor briefly explained what we were doing and he jokingly said, "I used to be an optimist until I marked your papers. Then I became a realist."

All of us laughed.