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 Mason's
Meditations
If
you're looking for something to chew over, some thoughtful seeds
for mental cultivation, bookmark this page for Jeff Mason's fortnightly
meditations. To think in or take away...
Number
Ten: Pessimism and Optimism
A
hundred years ago a certain kind of pessimism was fashionable. The
thought was that the world of the past, of the Greeks and Romans,
of our legendary beginnings was over. Science took the mystery out
of mysteries and left us with only our own ignorance, and this we
can rectify as best we can. Our modern civilization robs life of
its meaning while at the same time digs away at the supports of
its own activity.
The
pessimist expects that disaster is the natural outcome of the human
adventure. The optimist lives in the same world as the pessimist
but expects better things. It is not that the optimist doesn't recognize
that disasters happen, but they happen to others. Pessimists feel
that the deck is stacked against them, that if something is to go
wrong, it is likely to go wrong for them.
Pessimism
turns into a weariness of the world and all the world's business.
Life is painful and short. People are basically selfish and greedy,
and you can't trust them. What can go wrong will go wrong. Don't
build up your hopes, for hopes are only the dreams of fools. Give
up on life and it will finally give up on you, much to your relief,
since the death of hope is also the end of despair.
Optimism
chooses to believe against all the evidence of the pessimist that
everything is for the best, that the trials and obstacles of life
are here to teach us wisdom. There is either a divine providence
that arranges everything for the best, or nature herself can be
our guide. Look for the positive in everything. Keep your chin up.
Hope for the best and don't despair.
Maybe
both the pessimist and the optimist are partly right. The pessimist
is right that death negates our best efforts, but wrong about what
this means for human life. The optimist is right to live as though
everything will turn out all right, though knowing that tragedy
will strike. Perhaps it is safer to be a pessimist, because you
are bound to be right in the end. Bad times come to everyone. It
is riskier to be an optimist because the world can frustrate your
expectations. Even so, and despite the inevitable end, it is better
to live by making the best of what life offers, whether good or
bad, than to hide from life in pessimistic resignation.
Mason's
Meditations will next be updated on April 16th 2001
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Previous
Meditations
9.
(16th March 2001)
8. (1st
March 2001)
7.
(15th February 2001)
6.
(1st February 2001)
5. (15th
January 2001)
4. (1st
January 2001)
3.
(15th December 2000)
2.
(1st December 2000)
1. (15th November
2000)
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