everyday success

Home > Everyday Life > Journey of Life > Life to the Fullest 

Optimism, What Does It Mean That My Glass is Half-Full?

Whatever our age, wherever we live, no matter what our income, we tend to see our future as rosy.  Optimism, it turns out, is a human condition.  We foresee a good future for us and for our children.  Neuroscientist, Tali Sharot, calls the belief in a better future optimism bias.¹  Interestingly, we don’t forecast a positive future for everyone, only for our children and us.

What does that really mean?  And, how can we be optimistic about our future when we are fighting wars, tornadoes are ravaging parts of our country and our economy has taken such an enormous hit? 

It turns out that our brains are hardwired with a bent towards optimism.  About 80% of us see our glass as half full.  That is true all over the world.  While we think of optimism as an American trait, research shows that it is a human trait.  Our brains choose to see our personal future in rosy terms.

Optimism and its opposite, pessimism, express how we explain our world.  Optimism is an individual’s positive mental attitude about their life.  This positive mental attitude includes hope for the future, that our personal life will remain positive.    

People who look at a glass of water and think it is half-full are considered optimists. Those who see the glass as half-empty are thought to be pessimists.  It’s a simple way of expressing our view of the world.  Is it a world of plenty or a world of scarcity?

Optimism is with us at every turn

We learn from experience.  Our brain uses our past to create better future experiences.  At the same time, our brain changes negative experience so they aren’t as painful to remember.  Think, for example, of all the women who have more than one child.  Fortunately, our brain lightens the load of detailed birthing recall.

We are upbeat when confronted with misfortune.  We look for the bright side, for the lesson we’re learning even when catastrophe befalls us.  We know there is meaning; we know we’ll come out on the other side a better person. 

Giving optimists a bad rap

Optimists have long been thought of as dreamers, as naïve idealists, as Pollyanna-ish, as Panglossian.  Optimists are still thought of as unrealistic and slightly foolish.  On the other hand, recent research shows that optimists work longer hours and may have saved more money than others.

Can we be too optimistic?

Yes, we are often overly optimistic.  Our optimistic tendencies cause us to over-estimate our life expectancy by as much as twenty years!  The unfortunate result?  Far too few of us seek regular medical attention.  Our optimism is again at play at the time of our marriage.  Few of us imagine the possibility of divorce.  Still, there’s a 40% to 50% likelihood that a U.S. marriage will end in divorce.

Yes, we can be too optimistic but optimism plays an important role.  Can you imagine explorers, adventurers and inventors without optimism?  Where would we be if Columbus hadn’t decided to seek the Americas?  What about the wagon trains crossing the American plains seeking new land and a new life?  Without a fair dose of optimism, would any of them have begun their journey? 

Then, there are inventors like Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs.  Both may have been overly optimistic about the outcome but it sustained their work. 

Sharot explains that our optimism sets the stage for less stress because we underrate the hurdles we might encounter.  Surely, that is what sustains explorers and inventors.  Optimism gives us the vision and the belief that we can expand our boundaries.

Carrying it a step too far

It is true; there are those among us whose optimism is extreme.  There are those who squander savings and live on the edge, blithely believing the future will provide. 

Strategic optimism and strategic pessimism

Balance is important.  Optimism will help you expand your future while pessimism will constrain extreme risk-taking.  Consider just how optimistic you are.  Is it enhancing your life and expanding your perspective?  Or, is over-optimism putting you at peril?  Conversely, is pessimism limiting your future?

Put your optimism and pessimism to work.  Use creatively to shape your life, to make sure your experience is full and satisfying.  

Sources:

Time Magazine, June 6, 2011: The Optimism Bias by Tali Sharot

Wikipedia: Optimism

Books:

The Optimism Bias: A Tour of the Irrationally Positive Brain by Tali Sharot