“Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom” - Bernard De Voto

Allow me to start this article by affirming that I’m not a pessimistic person. And I’m not an optimist either. I’m between them, I am both. In the words of Albert Schweizer, “To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.”

Now, if we are to have a correct conversation here, we’ll need to establish a clear frame by defining the terms in discussion.

pessimism

1: an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome

2 a: the doctrine that reality is essentially evil b: the doctrine that evil overbalances happiness in life

optimism

1 : a doctrine that this world is the best possible world

2 : an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome

In the age-old battle between the two, pessimists think optimists are foolish and optimists think pessimists make themselves unnecessarily miserable. And while most people have taken a position at one of the ends by being either essential optimists or essential pessimists, the common sense concept of equilibrium seems to have been forgotten.

equilibrium

a state of intellectual or emotional balance

But we digress. Let’s see what myths we have about pessimistic people.

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photo by: chococreme26

“You get what you think about; your thoughts determine your destiny.” - the silly Law of Attraction

The above quote is the only official(ish) definition for the Law of Attraction that I could find. And it is seriously flawed…

“You get what you think about”

This is only partially true. It would have been completely true if it would have said something like this: “You generally get what you think about, but sometimes you may also get what you don’t think about.”

Now I don’t want to offend anyone who’s reading this, but the ones who resurrected this 100+ years old concept indeed *got* (attracted if you’d like) what they thought about - stupid people (been there myself for a short while). If you’re feeling a bit offended by what I just said, don’t worry, it’ll pass. Just think of something beautiful.

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Photo by: Lupus1988

故曰：知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆。

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will fight without danger in battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

- Sun Tzu -

You’d be surprised to know how many things can be learned by being a hardcore player of RTS (Real Time Strategy) games. Not only about war, but also about the “victories” of life.

Since the 1980s, Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” has become a classic for the corporate culture. It’s usefulness for the corporate environment may seem inexistent at first, as the treatise covers aspects of warfare, but after reading it one comes to notice that much of the text is about how to fight wars without actually having to do battle. It gives tips on how to outsmart one’s opponent so that physical battle is not necessary.

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Photo by: won7ders

Some things have to be believed to be seen. — Ralph Hodgson on ESP

How many times have you heard the “Seeing is Believing” expression? 2 times, 3 times? Oh, a couple hundred times… OK, but do you believe in it? Affirm, if you wish, that seeing is believing, but if you do, realize what the implications are and prepare yourself to live with them. If you don’t know what the implications are, let me point out a few of them.

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photo by: geofones

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.“ - Steve Jobs

An innovative idea isn’t necessarily a completely new one, but rather an improved version of an old idea (improved by introducing something new). Think about it, the iPod wasn’t built from scratch; Apple simply made usual mp3-players appear simpler. The very first light bulb was invented by Sir Joseph Wilson Swan; Edison followed his concept and built the first long-lasting one.

I could continue with lots of other examples, but two are enough to illustrate the point. Great ideas
are
essentially innovative ideasGreat ideas are essentially innovative ideas.

Innovation: the act of creating or introducing something new

So, where do innovative ideas come from?

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