The Power of Negative Thinking

[NoID10ts]

The suicide thread got me thinking about this.

I, for one, am tired of having positivity shoved down my throat as if negative thinking is some sort of defect, or a cancer on the soul of humanity. I am a negative person, it is part of who I am, and I shouldn't have to apologize for it.

Maybe the world needs more pessimism and negativity in order to keep things in perspective. Maybe negativity is a good thing, but society and its over abundance of happy-go-luckys have convinced those of us, of a more negative persuasion, that there is something wrong with us. Is negativity a bad thing, or are we just conditioned to think it is?

The universe never promised us happiness. Natural slection never promised us happiness. God, if you are inclined to believe in him/her/it, has certainly not promised us happiness (in this life at least).

Is this happiness stuff really that important anyway?

I say its time for the doom and Gloomers to rise up. Stop apologizing for it. Let the dark clouds roll!

Thoughts?

 

[FusionKnight]

Society needs a balance, I suppose. The sunshine and the thunderstorms are both necessary for an oak to grow...

Edit: Oh, sorry, my bad. How about this?

Stop whining! Why do you think the world has to conform to your needs? All the gloomy people are doomed to suffer alone anyway! Grating that harsh reality against the positivists isn't going to change squat!

 

[Kuu]

No I don't think so. You are wrong, so wrong. In fact, don't even ask me why you are wrong, cause you just wouldn't understand.

(If you stand in the sunshine for too long, you get sunburns and skin cancer. Fun!)

 

[Auburn]

Relality is depressing,​

We are realistic,​

Therefore, we are depressing.​

Often times, being a realist means to be a pessimist in the sight of others.​

We don't like bs, we don't like "colorations" of the facts, we just want to see and respond to and assess what is THERE.

We don't care if that makes us feel bad.
We don't care if that makes us unhappy or depressed.​

We don't care if it's inconvenient.

Because the 'commitment to reality' is far stronger and more important than what we feel.
And even our feelings are a reality -- when I'm happy, it would be a lie to make myself feel sad, and when I'm sad, it would be a lie to pretend to be happy.​

A positive feeling state is not the ultimate goal in living life; the ultimate goal is having a clear sense of reality at the moment in time it is assessed.

beautifully stated! ​

 

[NoID10ts]

^^ Jen stated it very well. That's what got me going on this kick!

 

[FusionKnight]

But, we also like to see the possibilities and potential, which probably counteracts the negativity...

 

[NoID10ts]

Unless the possibilities and potential lead to doom which they so frequently do.

 

[Agent Intellect]

whats the point in rising up, anyway? whos really going to care?


on a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.

 

[Ogion]

Hm, i am a bit confused. I mean, i am going to care (the one who asks the question...). I don't know, i am very little 'prone do depression' and 'negative thinking'.
Of course, it's 'sad' that we are just living, when we get old, a hundred years, but for one there may be possibilities, technologywise, and for the other it just is the way it is (that sounds stupid, now that i wrote it...).

Auburn, why is reality depressing? I think there are aspects of both sides. There is much pain and suffering (and humans are mostly ignorant assholes) , but there is so much 'beautifulness' as well, just take the universe and physical existence. I thought knowledge-seekers like us would see it this way?

Ogion

Of course i wouldn't force myself to be happy when deepressed neither. There i would really agree with the qutoed observation.

 

[Raku]

Relality is depressing,​

We are realistic,​

Therefore, we are depressing.​

Often times, being a realist means to be a pessimist in the sight of others.​

beautifully stated! ​

Depends on your definition of reality. I don't see reality as depressing, since it has no such property. The perception of reality, which varies from person to person, can be depressed. So I wouldn't say reality is inherently depressing, it is only our view of reality.

That being said I can certainly imagine people perceiving reality as positive. I think it involves focusing on the flaws of anything inside reality, or not focusing on them and looking for things that are not flawed.

Being negative is important imo. It can be a guard for being too optimistic. It also holds the other way around. Being positive can be a guard for being too negative. But I would never go as far as calling myself a realist. I might be closer to being a realist than most positive people, but I can't really say why. Maybe my perception of reality being negative makes me remember consequences and their actions that reinforce that perception a whole lot more.

But I can say I'm always looking for truth. Somehow I think positive people are not too much into the truth-seeking business.

 

[Auburn]

hmmm...
I guess my previous statement was somewhat inaccurate. It was not truly meant to be taken literal, but more general.

It's kinda along the lines of the saying "Ignorance is bliss".

True, there is much good life has to offer us. There is much to be happy over in this world, but there are some facts that we just cannot escape; facts which, at least to me, drown out all the other goodness of life as being just vanity.

One such fact is that we are but a spec of dust in a world which is a speck of dust in a galaxy which is a speck of dust in this vast universe. Anything we as humans can live to accomplish, be it the greatest feat of mankind, only has any significance in this microscopic world of ours, but is insignificant to the rest of reality. When I open my eyes to see this realization, all other earthly blessings seem nonexistent... ...irrelevant...

These are the depressing realities I speak of.

There are those who see such realities, and search for meaning to this seemingly pointless existence, and they find purpose in spirituality. But even these who choose to profess a faith, do so for hopes of a better life - having realized for themselves the insignificance of this life we now live in.

The fact remains, at least for me, that our existence is insignificant in the greater picture, and only has significance if we give it our own significance.

EDIT: It's been a tough day today, I'm kinda more pessimistic than usual... sorry...

 

[Agent Intellect]

sounds kind of like existentialism. i certainly agree with that, with the addition that we only get one chance at this. if you fuck up in this life, oh well, too bad, you don't get another try. its not like a game of chess where if you lose horribly, you can always learn from those mistakes and do better next time. this is all you got, and nobody got a chance to study for it, so were all just winging it.

any meaning i give myself is simply trying to figure out how it all works. its not really meaningful or purposeful, but its interesting (and helps pass the time).

 

[Vrecknidj]

Being negative is okay. Just like being sad is okay.

Being pathologically negative isn't okay. Just like being pathologically sad isn't okay.

Dave

 

[INTPINFP]

Society needs a balance, I suppose. The sunshine and the thunderstorms are both necessary for an oak to grow...

Edit: Oh, sorry, my bad. How about this?

Stop whining! Why do you think the world has to conform to your needs? All the gloomy people are doomed to suffer alone anyway! Grating that harsh reality against the positivists isn't going to change squat!

you made a funny

 

[Thread Killer]

I don't like positive or negative thinking being shoved down my throat hence why I try not to do the same. I'm more negative by nature but I appreciate positive thinking as long as my negativism when realistic is respected as well.

 

[Ermine]

I hate it when people confuse realism and pessimism. For example, people often chastise me for feeling sad after saying the pledge of allegiance, or singing a patriotic song. It's not that I'm not glad to live in the US, but I am sad about the direction it's taking. For anyone who's seen The Sound of Music, it's similar to when Captain Von Trapp starts crying while singing Edelweiss (Austrian patriotic song), though to a much lesser degree. /tangent

Anyway, people tend to only seek positive facts and ignore negative facts. That really annoys me. Just because they're negative doesn't mean they're less important. And negative facts need to be acted on. I'm as positive as I am negative. I you get me going, I can go on and on soaring on idealism long after anyone is interested.

 

[Decaf]

I'm with Fernando. I feel like pessimism is a habit of ignoring the good things. Optimism is a habit of ignoring the bad things. I am neither.

 

[Ogion]

Slightly irrelevant: The optimist thinks we're living in the best of all worlds, and the pessimist fears, that this is true...

I can agree with some of the recent posts. I think it's a matter of balance, of moderation. Neither extreme should be your only 'goal' or principle of action.

Ogion

P.S.: Nice is the web. Upon searching for a specific phrase i heard, i found a whole lot of interesting things to that topic, able to keep me in learning process for hours (if nothing else, something interesting, shifts my concentration towards it )

 

[Fedayeen]

In my opinion a lot of the optimistic people simply can't handle the truth of reality. Its why religion exists, and its why a lot of adults (parents especially) lie to children.

Though something similar could be said of pessimistics.

 

[EloquentBohemian]

Optimist: the glass is half full.
Pessimist: the glass is half empty.
INTP: can't we just add some more water?

 

[Ogion]

Or what about: The glass is full. With water, air...
Or: There is a glass? Matter is mostly empty...
...

Ogion

 

[loveofreason]

I prefer to think of my negativity as profound melancholia. It's a necessary counterbalance to all those "bubbly" personalities that are so so annoyingly popular.

Being negative is okay. Just like being sad is okay.

Being pathologically negative isn't okay. Just like being pathologically sad isn't okay.

Dave

What's wrong with being pathological?

 

[Agent Intellect]

the glass is half full.... of chlorine, sediments, microorganisms, residual plastic and medicine, and fungus.

 

[sagewolf]

I think (THINK) I'm an optimistic realist: I envision and hope for the best, but I know it's not gonna happen. I usually think the exact opposite will happen, actually... And then I'm proved wrong most of the time, because something utterly mundane and boring happens. (There were a couple times that i was right, like the time my dad was a hour late to pick me up at the bus stop, or when we actually went out and got my new computer.)

I prefer to think of my negativity as profound melancholia.

I get that too. Melancholia is good for creative energy, once it's passed.

The glass is half full and the glass is half empty; who says it can't be two-- wait a minute.

Someone drank out of my glass.

 

[Fleur]

Negative thinking? I have a lot of it... Even too much, but I can`t do anything about it. That`s the way I am.

(I think my glass has shattered into pieces.)

 

[Fedayeen]

Or what about: The glass is full. With water, air...
Or: There is a glass? Matter is mostly empty...
...

Ogion

How about The glass is half filled?

 

[Devercia]

The glass is twice as big as necessary.

 

[INTPINFP]

-the glass is half full.... of chlorine, sediments, microorganisms, residual plastic and medicine, and fungus.

-The glass is twice as big as necessary.

Two of my favorites.

 

[Kuu]

The glass is at 50%

 

[NoID10ts]

Asking whether the glass is half full or half empty is futile because in the great scheme of things it doesn't matter. Perhaps, the glass should be smashed and the broken glass used to slit my wrists!

How's that for negative thinking?

<-----See, this happy little guy likes the idea. These positives want us negatives to destroy ourselves, the bastards.

 

[Sylzarra]

Hmm well in our society being negative or being sad for extended periods of time is considered weakness. Has anyone else noticed that? It's even worse in my family. We pretend everything is perfectly dandy when within the walls of our house everything falls to pieces.For example my parents could be having the biggest argument and threatening to kill each other but when the phone rings, everything stops and my mom picks up with this happy, everything is great voice.. This idea has been drilled into me so much that I can never talk about it easily even under an alias.

<------- guys like this want us to act positive even when we have every right to be negative. If we don't act positive, we loose respect and cooperation which make job life and school life difficult.

So even if the glass is half empty, to get anywhere in life we must act as if its half full.

We should put all of the in one part of the world and blow it up...

 

[Fedayeen]

Asking whether the glass is half full or half empty is futile because in the great scheme of things it doesn't matter. Perhaps, the glass should be smashed and the broken glass used to slit my wrists!

How's that for negative thinking?

<-----See, this happy little guy likes the idea. These positives want us negatives to destroy ourselves, the bastards.

Or perhaps the negative thinker pours the liquid out of the glass so it is all empty

 

[Zezon Vice]

I would just like to add that the race we are a part of is arrogant to an extreme. That is a reality and those who arent (because not everyone is....just speaking for the populous as a whole) can do nothing but try to clean up the mess we leave behind. Evidence would be this planet. Think of how many creatures are going extinct because of us. And we considered it good sport untill we saw what was happening. Think about the natural resources we are wasting till the planet is dry causing global warming. Now we have the desperate acts at saving them and this planet as a whole and were only doing it for ourselves even then. The happy go lucky ppl are the ppl i relate to when i think of thoughs at fault for the situations we face. I could be wrong, but this is my view and it might be an ignorant view at that. But pessimists shouldnt be saying sorry to anyone. Pessimists seem to be the only ones with any sense at all.

maybe i should say "realists are the only ones with any sense at all"