> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 1 topic, 4 evergreens</em></s> #### <s class="topic-title">[[pessimism]]</s> > [!wikipedia] [pessimism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism) > > Pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is "Is the glass half empty or half full?"; in this situation, a pessimist is said to see the glass as half empty, while an optimist is said to see the glass as half full. Throughout history, the pessimistic disposition has had effects on all major areas of thinking. > > Philosophical pessimism is the related idea that views the world in a strictly anti-optimistic fashion. This form of pessimism is not an emotional disposition as the term commonly connotes. Instead, it is a [[philosophy]] or [[worldview]] that assigns a negative value to life and [[existence]]. Philosophical pessimists commonly argue for an empirical prevalence of pains over pleasures, that life is ontologically or intrinsically adverse to living beings, and that existence is fundamentally meaningless or without [[purpose]]. Their responses to this condition, however, are widely varied and can be life-affirming. > **See**:: [[human experience]] > [!dataview] Related unlinked mentions > > - [[Realism must acknowledge optimism's existence and effectiveness]] > [!dataview]- All unlinked mentions > > - [[topics]] > - [[Happiness is enlightenment and sadness is delusion]] > - [[Humans have decided to reject an unjust world]] > - [[Sadness is enlightenment and happiness is delusion]]