Is the glass half empty or half full?

[h2orowe]

What do you think? Overall in life. How is your view? Are you optimistic? Are you pessimistic?

I'm a mix... but more of a pessimist. To me... you should expect low, for most things, that way, you are dissatisfied, and want to do something about it.

Last year, I got awful grades in school. 4 Fs, and a D- (an A in choir though :D ) so what did I do? I got angry at myself, and this year, thanks to me being dissatisfied with my other grades, I tried. I got 4 Cs, 2 As, and a B. I was pessmistic in the way that I thought I had nowhere to go down, but I was optimistic in the way that I improved.


How's your outlook on life?

[MeneerDijk]

I voted positive. I just can't stand to be pessimistic for extended periods of time, i'll get cranky.

[Shamu]

Half full, always. Because hey, life could be worse, but my kid is healthy, we have a roof over our heads, and plenty to eat. I can't complain. ^_^

[Jiant Flying Panda]

Half empty....

[Wiss]

You need the Engineer option:

To the Engineer, the glass is twice as large as it needs to be.

[gyoza]

Eh, I expect/hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Not entirely sure where that puts me.

[Soli]

Sometimes I think my glass is cracked. :boggled:

But at the moment it's half full for me! :P I'm getting good grades in school, I'm healthy, I'm good. :D

[Firefly]

Half Full for me.

[羽之助]

Hey, I ordered a cheeseburger!

[Xenotrauma]

I agree 100% with jethro, heh. Empty and full are circumstantial adjectives :D

[Ozero]

empty. Cuz im in considerable pain right now. Not that I'm never in NO pain, but. right now it's high. And will be again, and again, until someone attacks me with a stem cell innovation, or I die.

so yeah, empty.

[nice gaijin]

were you drinking from the glass or filling it before posing this question?

[Pookie42]

its half full:)

but the fact of the matter is, its irrelevent if i'm tthirtsy and there's water i'm happy:)

[setrict]

I don't care if the glass is half full of water, or half empty. I ordered coffee.

[MNJetter]

Like anybody, I have my good times and my bad times, but overall I am an extremely optimistic person. I can't possibly know whether or not I would be so optimistic if my life were worse, but I like to think I would.

[Pierrot le Fou]

What are you talking about? There was beer in that glass. Whichever it was first, it's fully empty now.

Bartender? Give me another.

[Ether_Elemental]

i also agree with what Jethro said, thats just what life does to ya. but if i were to be asked that question and had to give a simple answer it'd be: The water is at the halfway mark.

[Jay]

Half empty. Life's half over, the activity's half over, whatever - there's only 1/2 of it to go and no matter how much optimism you have there's shit all you can do to get it back.

Maybe that's pessimistic; I like to call it realism. Be realistic here, you can be optimistic that the sky might clear and you'll get a bit of sun in - I won't deny you that. But there's limits to how far optimism can go before you start having to face reality.

[Mittens]

Half full.
Always starts from the bottom and rises thus it is getting full. You are 'FILLING' the glass.
Only when you stop at mid-point, you have filled it half way, thus it is half full.

[Jay]

Yay for taking sayings in their literal meaning! :sarcasm:

:P

[Chelsums]

I agree with jethrokun. If you are filling the class, it is half full. If you are drinking from it, it's half empty XD

[drdan]

It's both. Plus the water is constantly evaporating except occaisonally it turns to ice and rains filling the glass some more.

[Shishio]

It's both.

I agree.

10 characters.

[TrendSeven]

You need the Engineer option:

To the Engineer, the glass is twice as large as it needs to be.
Agreed... and I'm not even an engineer.

[Renter]

Fails for not having "yes" option.

[mamba]

the glass is both, half full and half empty at the same time. in reality there is no glass but our perception of the glass! The matrix is real! :P

[Jay]

...you just won. :rofl:

[kyaa the catlord]

Unless the glass is in a vacuum, it is always full.

[Jay]

That's also true.

[pencil_eater_masa]

half full. i look at things positively, but feel like things are negative. [harmony for the ying and the yang :hat: ]

[Idlethought]

I like to think it's half full sometimes but lets be real, a complete optimist and a complete pessimist are equally foolish. Life has it's ups and downs so you cant just be ALWAYS half full or half empty ya dig? My glass depends on the circumstance. And is usually filled with cranberry juice before I EMPTY it into mah belleh.

[Idlethought]

What are you talking about? There was beer in that glass. Whichever it was first, it's fully empty now.

Bartender? Give me another.


and wow this is the first humor i've EVER seen from PLF. :eyepop: :eyepop:

[Jay]

Haven't been looking then. ;)

[crow-kun]

I find things to go a lot better when I'm being negative. Being positve never solves anything.

[Jay]

Agree.

Live in hope, die in despair - that's my outlook on life.

[Idlethought]

Why be negative ALL the time though? That just makes you feel like shit and the world is against you and shit like that. At least when you have a little optimism you feel like things are gonna get better.

[Jay]

Realism is where it's at. Screw optimism, if shit's beyond your control then all the optimism in the known world won't change it.

[crow-kun]

But I'm happy being negative, plus putting people down is a wonderful feeling.

[Idlethought]

Realism is where it's at. Screw optimism, if shit's beyond your control then all the optimism in the known world won't change it.

That's just it though, theres nothing thats beyond some degree of your control. It all boils down to how much effort you want to put to changing your situation, that's it.

[Jay]

That's just it though, theres nothing thats beyond some degree of your control.

Wanna bet?

[Idlethought]

Sure, try me.

[Jay]

My aunt died of cancer two months ago, and it was in three places in her body. By the time they diagnosed her it was already too late. As said, and I quote, if shit's beyond your control then all the optimism in the world won't change it.

You fuckin' lose.

[Idlethought]

Wow. Well as terrible as that is, and trust me I know its terrible, my grandma died like 2 years ago from cancer, you can't let that make your outlook on life permanently negative. Ok so I was wrong there are SOME things that are beyond your control BUT, theres alot more things that aren't.

Like I said, you can't let one situation kill any hope you have and just make you say "fuck it, I'll let the chips fall where they will."

[Jay]

Wow. Well as terrible as that is, and trust me I know its terrible, my grandma died like 2 years ago from cancer, you can't let that make your outlook on life permanently negative. Ok so I was wrong there are SOME things that are beyond your control BUT, theres alot more things that aren't.

Yep, agreed there. A 100% negative outlook on life is stupid. There's cynicism, like me; seeing the world from an "everyone has an ulterior motive" point of view*, then there's just plain shitty outlook on life.

*Everyone has an ulterior motive - there's always a catch, isn't that how the world goes round?

Like I said, you can't let one situation kill any hope you have and just make you say "fuck it, I'll let the chips fall where they will."

Uh-huh. Change what you can, roll with what you can't, right?

[Idlethought]

*Everyone has an ulterior motive - there's always a catch, isn't that how the world goes round?
I agree with that partially. Allow me to add on to the end of that. "Everyone has an ulterior motive - there's always a catch, isn't that how the world goes round? But you gotta do what you can to make the situation best for you and to avoid getting fucked in the ass by society."



Uh-huh. Change what you can, roll with what you can't, right?

yar. That's not really cynicism though. Again, I'd like to modify that a bit. "Do what you can to make the situation work for you, and if it doesn't, ride it out until you see an opportunity to change it for the better." The difference between your statement adn my statement is yours is sort of indifferent. Mine has a sign of hope at the end.

[Jay]

That's not really cynicism though.

Oh, that one wasn't designed to be cynicism. That's just what I think, that if it's possible to change it, do so, but if not, then screw it, bunker down and find something to hold onto.

Y'know?

[Idlethought]

Oh, that one wasn't designed to be cynicism. That's just what I think, that if it's possible to change it, do so, but if not, then screw it, bunker down and find something to hold onto.
...until an opportunity presents itself.

Yea I can dig that. I just try to stick with the mentality that no matter how bad things are or seem to be, theres always a possibility for it to get better. Sure, I have moments of pessimism. I have them alot, but they never really help anything so yea.

[Jay]

What if an opportunity doesn't present itself and you have to ride out the storm?

See that's what I'm getting at - I'd rather have the knowledge that I can't change the situation than pretend to be all hopeful, because pretense is just a way of fending off the truth that little bit longer. Why bother hiding behind pretenses when you know there's bugger all you can do? That's just lying to yourself.

[PinkRanger]

It depends on the situation whether my glass is half empty or half full. Usually its half empty.

[Idlethought]

What if an opportunity doesn't present itself and you have to ride out the storm?

Then you CREATE an opportunity within the storm. Never underestimate human ingenuity.


See that's what I'm getting at - I'd rather have the knowledge that I can't change the situation than pretend to be all hopeful, because pretense is just a way of fending off the truth that little bit longer. Why bother hiding behind pretenses when you know there's bugger all you can do? That's just lying to yourself.

Just because you can't see an immediate way to change something doesnt mean that its beyond your power to change. Theres a difference between pretending to be all hopeful and BEING all hopeful. If you're pretending then youre just not being true to yourself and yea youre just denying reality.

You can hide behind pretenses or you can hold out and always look for the light, theres a difference. It's not lying to yourself if youre honestly looking for the brighter day.

[Jay]

*sigh*

What I'm saying is, what if no matter what happens and no matter what YOU do, nothing happens to change the situation? What if, no ifs ands or buts, you absolutely HAVE to ride the bitch out?

What then?

[Idlethought]

lol then you ride the bitch out, looking for a way out =P *edit* not thinking "aw shit we gonna die"

[Jay]

Your outlook on life seems to be "there's always an opportunity", be it either one that presented itself, or one that you've created.

Don't get me wrong, that's not a shitty outlook on life - but what if there's not?

[Idlethought]

Doesn't mean you stop looking lol. To me, the only alternative to that is "there's no way out, we're all hyperfucked." I dunno about you but that's not too appealing to me ^_^

[Stephy]

Half full. er... I think. Yes! Half full. :yes:

[Jay]

Doesn't mean you stop looking lol. To me, the only alternative to that is "there's no way out, we're all hyperfucked." I dunno about you but that's not too appealing to me ^_^

No, being hyperfucked ISN'T the most appealing of scenarios... >_>

[Idlethought]

lol indeed it isnt

[OliveButtercup]

Eh, I expect/hope for the best and prepare for the worst. Not entirely sure where that puts me.

I feel ya on that one

[Idlethought]

I guess you could call that optimistic realism? =P

[Postmonger]

My glass is half full. Too bad it's frozen, darn snowy canadian weather. "Winter Wonderland" my ass!

[Unknown]

To me, Half Full sounds more depressing. I always want to add more stuff to my life and change it around. So half empty makes it sound like there more room for adjustment.

[Idlethought]

i guess a better question for you would be:
Optimism or Pessimism?

[Jay]

Pessoptism.

[Shadowblade]

I put half empty, because no matter what you do in life you always end up dead. But i agree with Wiss, there should have been an engineer option.

[FireWolf238]

depends stronglyon the subject, if it's something i actually care about (running), then it's always half empty. b/c there is always room for improvements. for almost everything else in life it's half full, or rather full +-50%.

[Frankey-eh]

To me, Half Full sounds more depressing. I always want to add more stuff to my life and change it around. So half empty makes it sound like there more room for adjustment.

to me, half full sounds like you're closer to the goal (of being full) than half empty. To know that my struggle is almost over gives me that extra boost to go all the way through.

I sit facing forward, not backwards, and not sideways either.

[Jay]

I sit facing whatever damn way I want, and if life can't handle that, too bad.

[akitaka]

Here's a metaphoric way to put it; how can you have a half-full glass, without having it empty in the first place?

You need a little bit of both to enjoy life. Otherwise, things get boring.

[Collapse]

Actually both. You learn from bad things and you enjoy from the good things. It's called variety and life would be too stale if it is run on a one-way track.

[FOBulous]

I think this question has to do with how satisfied we are with our lives. It's funny because I work with a lot of international people and they say Americans are too damn optimistic. That we always hope for the best and when we don't get it, it hurts us deeply.

This also reminds me of a quote I was once saw at Coffee Bean. "Success is getting what you want. But Happiness is being happy with what you get."

[Kwiz]

I'm sorry, all of this just reminded me of a quote:

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die tomorrow."

[Tungtvann]

Depends if I'm drinking from the glass, or filling it up.

[drdan]

Realism is where it's at. Screw optimism, if shit's beyond your control then all the optimism in the known world won't change it.

I'd feel that way too if my skin was peeling off like yours is. :bwitch: *I'm melting I'm melting...*

[sEvInDeAdLySiNs]

If a glass is empty, and fluid has been poured in it up to where it would be half, it's half full.

If the glass if full, and fluid was drank, or poured out of it where it would be half, it would be half empty.

The same would apply to life for me.

agreed....

[Dead Sexy Vocab]

I tend to fail at looking life at a good perspective.

Although I do help my close friends even when they'd just look down.

Hmm, probably that's why they really like being around me.

Not caring for myself much, only caring for others around me.

[haraleah]

What glass?

[Balain]

Well I had to vote half empty because the mug on my desk tells me it's half empty [Mug] (http://www.despair.com/pessimistsmug.html)

[Janken]

Half empty.

[jingi893]

it's half full of water and half full of air...so i would say it's just full...

[Kenak]

It's both, and it depends on the situation. If you're filling the glass, it's half full. If you're drinking it, it's half empty.