Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist

Re:Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist by aussiesnack on Saturday November 05, 2022 @08:47PM (#33487545)

Optimism/pessimism are really weird descriptions to apply to the self outside of a therapeutic context. Given that they are both cognitive distortions or biases, as a cognitive agent, once you've noticed them, your responsibility is to root them out. But noting one and then clutching it tight as a badge of identity is little different in form from saying "I can't do arithmetic", with an implicit "yay for me!" rather than "but I'm trying to learn".

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Re:Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist by user8501 on Sunday November 06, 2022 @01:32PM (#33495627)

I haven’t read the article, but maybe not all distortions need correction. Maybe in some cases somebody might need to balance their optimism in such a way that more wisdom can be utilized, but I still see nothing wrong with embracing a distortion, especially one as helpful as being optimistic.

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Re:Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist by aussiesnack on Sunday November 06, 2022 @04:31PM (#33497441)

Depends what you mean by 'wrong'. It's certainly a cognitive mistake to do so, pretty much by definition. If you embrace either optimism or pessimism, your view of the world is less likely to be veridical than if you abjure or correct for either.

If you mean 'wrong' as a value judgement, I'd agree it's arguably reasonable to opt-in to optimism or pessimism on non-cognitive grounds. You might prefer optimism if you believe an inaccurately sunny view of consequences is pragmatically effective. Or you might prefer pessimism if you think it leads to reduced disappointment.

What also follows is that, given their opting in to non-veridicality, us third parties should take the views of any self-proclaimed optimists or pessimists less seriously than we do those who take cognition seriously.

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Re:Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist by user8501 on Monday November 07, 2022 @12:50PM (#33509353)

You’re making a qualitative judgement by saying a sunny view of a situation might be “inaccurate”. That’s not for anybody to judge except the individual holding the sunny view. And if their perspective needs correction, again only they can say if that’s the case or not.

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Re:Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist by aussiesnack on Monday November 07, 2022 @02:39PM (#33511191)

You don't have any idea what optimism and pessimism mean. And your radical individualistic epistemology is absurd in the extreme.

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Re:Stewart Brand Says He’s Still an Optimist by user8501 on Monday November 07, 2022 @07:57PM (#33514702)

Please explain to me what they mean then. And then explain how embracing one’s optimism is a “cognitive mistake almost by definition”.

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