What is Pessimism and Optimism?
Whether pessimism and optimism are opposites of each other, has been a subject of debate lately. All this while, it was assumed that pessimists and optimists stand at loggerheads in terms of thought processing. However, more recent studies have proved otherwise. Going through the brief explanation of either of these concepts given below will help in making them more clear. Pessimism The term pessimism, derived from the Latin word for worst – pessimus, is defined as a state of mind, wherein a person’s perception of life is predominantly marked by ‘negativity’. These people feel that they are responsible for all the negative events happening to them. In simple words, pessimists are inclined towards highlighting the negativity in their life, while ignoring any positive signs they come across. As we mentioned in the example given above, a pessimist is more likely to refer to a glass half filled with water as ‘half empty’, (the negative side), instead of referring to it to as ‘half full’, (
