Glass half full or half empty?

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

I always hated this question. Maybe its because I'm INTP but there is no context. Is the glass being filled up or being drank/dumped out? Seems like a one sided question J-types ask to see if you are pessimist or optimist. Who cares!?
Js seem to like one-sided things.

 

[Kuu]

50% full and 50% empty

 

[Ermine]

I also prefer to go with the 50% answer, but people are never satisfied with my answer and take it to be negative. What in the world is wrong with being neutral? I'm neutral most of the time, so the 50% answer is perfectly honest for me.

 

[echoplex]

This reminds me of that Demetri Martin joke...

Those that say their glasses are half-full are considered optimists. Yeah, but shouldn't we be more specific about the contents of the glass? If it's a glass of shit, I'm going half-empty. I don't like shit as an optimist. "Yeah, we gotta half-empty shit glass right here."

I think we can all relate to the relief we feel when we find our glass is only half full of shit. I know I can.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

just more proof in my mind that optimists don't really think about things very much

 

[RubberDucky451]

just more proof in my mind that optimists don't really think about things very much

An optimist in this world usually has his hands over his face, eyes and ears.

 

[SEELE01]

I piss in the glass, then its full and you all can shut up about it.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

just more proof in my mind that optimists don't really think about things very much

So would replying "what glass" then spending half an hour explaining the nuances of existentialism suggest that I think too much?

Btw we need a new word for: cynical to the point of second guessing one's own cynicism, resulting in a sort of twisted idealism.

 

[aperfectgircle...or is it]

Well, once I could mathematically and scientifically precisely measure the volume and density of the liquid (assuming it IS a liqud) and it's ratio to the parameters of said glass,........I could easily answer that question for you. Most likely it would be something like this......"Well Jen, based on my observation along with simple chemistry, alchemical formulations and transitional physics and calculations,..that glass is actually 48.024% full to its maximum capacity so, it is actually LESS than half of either!

Then I would be expected to be asked to leave the premises and to never return....of which wouldn't bother me so much because I would have thought she would have done her homework prior to asking such a vague question to begin with!

Oh yeah, ...who cares anyway?

 

[Eljua]

Is it enough that my most likely answer tends to err towards berating the other person for being so narrow minded, when they claim the glass is half full or empty, when we all know that regardless of contents, it's always going to be 100% full unless it's present in a vacuum, in which case it's as likely as not going to be 100% empty?

 

[walfin]

There are an infinite number of possible witty responses available to an INTP.

Unfortunately if you're faced with a straitlaced uptight curmudgeonly SJ (s)he'll just tell you to STFU and gimme a proper answer. You have 2 choices, half full or half empty, and they're mutually exclusive.

Then all the fun is lost and there's no purpose to the question any more. Because half full and half empty are materially the same. It's just a matter of semantics.

Anyway if matter is mostly empty space then it's probably less than half full. Whether it's in a vacuum or not.

 

[Fedayeen]

So would replying "what glass" then spending half an hour explaining the nuances of existentialism suggest that I think too much?

Btw we need a new word for: cynical to the point of second guessing one's own cynicism, resulting in a sort of twisted idealism.

I bet there is already a trope for it

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Find it and I'll call you Trope Master until the end of time.

 

[Anthile]

Remember: All wars have been started by optimists.

 

[Enne]

As an engineer I must say that the glass is twice the size required for end user consumption. Contemplation of an adjustable volume glass container. Will update with CAD models.

 

[Beat Mango]

As an engineer I must say that the glass is twice the size required for end user consumption. Contemplation of an adjustable volume glass container. Will update with CAD models.

nooo, you've been tainted by the ES-world!

by the way, your "click for sexy images" link doesn't work - I've tried it several times now...

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

Less than 10% full because of all the empty space in matter. I like that response, I think I'm gonna try that if I ever get that question again someday.

 

[studebaker]

I'm a fan of using the following answer:
"There is half left."
It can mean either optimism or pessimism, and neither.

 

[James Black]

You're all kidding yourselves. There is no glass.

 

[Cogwulf]

It depends whether I'm filling it or emptying it. If I'm filling it, it's half full, and if I'm emptying it, it's half empty.

Therefore what I have is not a scalar description of the volume of the contents, it's a vector description of the volume and directions of the contents.

 

[Morel Panic]

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Yes.

 

[Vecna]

100% Full.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

I also like the 100%full unless present in a vacuum, good responses though.

 

[Starfruit M.E.]

http://philosophy.suite101.com/article.cfm/is_the_glass_half_full_or_half_empty

Even if you did choose between the two options, it might mean the opposite of what it's supposed to...

 

[Adymus]

Seems like a one sided question J-types ask to see if you are pessimist or optimist. Who cares!?
Js seem to like one-sided things.

Please explain why this has anything to do with being a J?

 

[shadowdrums4]

My most common answer is: What matters not is the fullness or emptiness of the glass but whether or not I can drink what's inside.

 

[Subotai]

It depends whether I'm filling it or emptying it. If I'm filling it, it's half full, and if I'm emptying it, it's half empty.

Therefore what I have is not a scalar description of the volume of the contents, it's a vector description of the volume and directions of the contents.

This

 

[ashitaria]

I always think half-full first, then half empty.

Really, the correct answer is both. If I were give an answer like that though, I would say half-full and empty.

Besides, this is a poor measure of optimism. You want to measure optimism? Put two people in Africa. Come back in a year and see which one kills himself first.

 

[Ogion]

/me likes fresh clean water.
/me drinks some.

Ogion

 

[Geminii]

I think I can design a bigger and better glass than that, and it'll be able to be filled more than halfway, too.

Alternatively, would you like me to negotiate a deal with a supplier of shot glasses? Because it seems you're paying too much for what you need, there. You could free up a chunk of the budget, get on the boss's good side, whaddya say? You'll barely notice my honkin' great commission.

 

[NothingTodo]

Well, once I could mathematically and scientifically precisely measure the volume and density of the liquid (assuming it IS a liqud) and it's ratio to the parameters of said glass,........I could easily answer that question for you. Most likely it would be something like this......"Well Jen, based on my observation along with simple chemistry, alchemical formulations and transitional physics and calculations,..that glass is actually 48.024% full to its maximum capacity so, it is actually LESS than half of either!

Then I would be expected to be asked to leave the premises and to never return....of which wouldn't bother me so much because I would have thought she would have done her homework prior to asking such a vague question to begin with!

Oh yeah, ...who cares anyway?

Agreed

 

[EditorOne]

Enne,

"As an engineer I must say that the glass is twice the size required for end user consumption. Contemplation of an adjustable volume glass container. Will update with CAD models. "

You mean it is neither half full nor half empty, merely over-engineered?

 

[Synoptist]

If 1 = full and 0 = empty, then the glass must be half-full because half-empty is still empty.

Though, whenever I give this answer, people tell me I'm missing the point :/

 

[floccinaucci]

it half full of water and half full of air

 

[Bezaliel]

It's totally full. 50% water 50% air.

 

[JoeJoe]

Considering, that atoms consist of less than 1% (?) matter and the rest is empty space, one could either say, the glass is good as empty, or it's filled with empty space. But if you go into quantum physics, you will find that the empty space isn't so empty after all but throbbing with elementary particles. And to top it off, matter is nothing but condensed energy.

My final answer: The glass is filled to the brim with energy in various states.

 

[MrBlah]

As an engineer I must say that the glass is twice the size required for end user consumption. Contemplation of an adjustable volume glass container. Will update with CAD models.

This, but I'd have to put engineering student in there instead. The adjustable volume comment just gave me an idear for a buoyant rim cup tho. Might work.

As for the metaphorical question, generally I can't look at a snapshot of a situation and say if it's good or bad. I need to know how it got this way and what will happen after.

Whether things are good or bad depends on so much more than just the contents of the cup.

 

[Hawkeye]

It's both and either at the same time.

 

[NeverAmI]

It is empty because I drank it, I certainly hope there wasn't piss in it.

...My stomach is upset.