But no-- I feel like the benign, wishful sentiment depicted in the last panel was totally human and totally understandable, and sometimes there won’t necessarily be anything more than that. Indeed, that person may go on to self-check, realise what the issue is, and put more focus on understanding others’ specific issues. And that’s a good thing, mais non?
At the same time, I’ve found it incredibly common for some to have a hard time moving through that process, in fact getting stuck there semi-permanently (“here’s my advice for everyone else…” xN). Most often these seem to be orthodox, evangelical sorts. And of course, some can take it much further, going in more toxic directions.
Since I feel like all these things are rather directly connected, the simple comment I made in the beginning was meant to indicate that, not try to put down the cartoon in any way, nor its messages.
Didn’t really think I needed to fully explain that to anyone, but here we are.
Bringing up every connected possibility is not always warranted or needed. We don’t need to soil every attempt at optimism by bringing up every toxic alternative just because. Optimism is hard enough to hold onto already. We should be mindful of needlessly weakening that.
If your optimism is lost by considering other aspects of the situation then i would argue you aren’t optimistic, you’re distracted or deluded.
An optimist would see the other aspects and remain positive, because that’s optimism – just how the opposite would go for a pessimist.
Someone purposefully ignoring or avoiding other aspects ofnthe situation is seeking distraction or delusion, imo, and wouldn’t be considered optimistic.
Okay, whatever you say, boss.
But no-- I feel like the benign, wishful sentiment depicted in the last panel was totally human and totally understandable, and sometimes there won’t necessarily be anything more than that. Indeed, that person may go on to self-check, realise what the issue is, and put more focus on understanding others’ specific issues. And that’s a good thing, mais non?
At the same time, I’ve found it incredibly common for some to have a hard time moving through that process, in fact getting stuck there semi-permanently (“here’s my advice for everyone else…” xN). Most often these seem to be orthodox, evangelical sorts. And of course, some can take it much further, going in more toxic directions.
Since I feel like all these things are rather directly connected, the simple comment I made in the beginning was meant to indicate that, not try to put down the cartoon in any way, nor its messages.
Didn’t really think I needed to fully explain that to anyone, but here we are.
Bringing up every connected possibility is not always warranted or needed. We don’t need to soil every attempt at optimism by bringing up every toxic alternative just because. Optimism is hard enough to hold onto already. We should be mindful of needlessly weakening that.
If your optimism is lost by considering other aspects of the situation then i would argue you aren’t optimistic, you’re distracted or deluded.
An optimist would see the other aspects and remain positive, because that’s optimism – just how the opposite would go for a pessimist.
Someone purposefully ignoring or avoiding other aspects ofnthe situation is seeking distraction or delusion, imo, and wouldn’t be considered optimistic.
“We should be mindful of how disruptive our comments are.”
“You’re not really an optimist. You’re just deluded.”
What a reasonable and well meant response.
My comment was not about you specifically. I thought i wrapped it up with general terms clearly enough to show that but maybe not.
Whether it’s about me or others is irrelevant.