RE: Our society values blind optimism.
October 21, 2014 at 11:44 am
(This post was last modified: October 21, 2014 at 11:45 am by bennyboy.)
(October 21, 2014 at 11:03 am)rasetsu Wrote: 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?
I suppose if one general stance was always (or even usually) better, we'd be well evolved to take that stance. Instead, we see a variety of stances not only in people, but apparently in animals too. I'd say (now that I've thought about it a little more) in general optimism will tend to magnify chances of both risk and reward, while pessimism will tend to minimize them. Only a Caesar will ever reap the near-absolute rewards of a Caesar. However, many of his men (and lesser men in the Senate) obviously outlived him, so hrrrmmm.
As for religious faith, I think that is very much a decision to be optimistic even in the face of evidence that you probably shouldn't be. In other words, you are going to leave everything, possibly even your survival, in "God's" hands, and let it all hang out. As a statement about reality, religion is almost for sure false. As a psychological trick geared toward creating a confident, successful, society, I think it has worked pretty well historically.
