Our society values blind optimism.

[Angrboda]

I wonder if optimism is really a superior strategy to realism or pessimism. As a species, we seem biased towards optimism. However to assume that it has adaptive value just because we're biased toward it is I think an improper leap. Wayne Gretzsky said that you miss 100% of the shots that you do not take. However, you also miss shots for taking them too early, or turning over the puck because you thought you had a shot when you didn't and so on. Surely conservatism must open as many opportunities as optimism. Is there any real reason to suspect one is naturally a better strategy than the other? I don't know. As atheists, seemingly most here have opted for the realistic avenue rather than the optimistic belief in gods in spite of the lack of evidence for them. Is this then a less productive strategy to take to the question of theism?