We find a very widespread elementary form of such an assessment in comparative historical pessimism; from Hesiod to the present day, every age considered itself the worst. It is obvious that people are subjectively especially sensitive to the disasters of their time, and this kind of pessimism is a natural and almost inevitable illusion. Theoretically, we are freed from it when we learn the fact of its repetition in different epochs, in a variety of historical conditions.
The pessimistic view of history is opposed by the idea of a constant increase in human well-being. The consciousness that there is evil in the world and that it is not abolished by one progress in the social conditions of life raises a fundamental question about the assessment of world existence, and with an extreme negative answer is unconditional pessimism, expressed in the Buddhist religion and received the latest philosophical processing in the systems of Schopenhauer and Hartmann.
V. Solovyov and Buddhism
Four noble truths
1) The truth about suffering (dukkha or dukkha, Skt. - illness and suffering): "My suffering is the result of my negative thinking and bad karma." The world is full of suffering. Birth is suffering, illness is suffering, death is suffering. Connection with the unpleasant is suffering, separation from the pleasant is suffering. Even neutral emotional states are not free from the influence of causes and circumstances that a person cannot control. Man is involved in a process that involves suffering.
2) The truth about the origin and causes of suffering (karma or samudaya - the source of dukkha): "My negative thinking and bad karma are the cause of my suffering and the conditions for the suffering of others." The cause of suffering is craving (tanha), which leads to the cycle of birth and death (samsara). The source of suffering is attachment and hatred. The rest of the harmful emotions, as a rule, are generated by them. Their consequences lead to suffering. The root of attachment and hatred is in ignorance, ignorance of the true nature of all beings and inanimate objects. This is not just a consequence of insufficient knowledge, but a false worldview, an invention of the complete opposite of the truth, an erroneous understanding of reality.
3) The truth about the true cessation of suffering and the elimination of its sources (the truth about nirvana or nirodha - the cessation of dukkha): "My happiness is the result of my good thinking and my good karma." A state in which there is no suffering is achievable. The elimination of the defilements of the mind (attachment, hatred, envy and intolerance) is the truth of the state beyond suffering and causes.
4) The truth about the paths to the cessation of suffering (marga or magga - the path leading to the cessation of dukkha): "My good thinking is the cause of my happiness and the condition for the happiness of others." The so-called middle or Eightfold Path to reach nirvana has been proposed. This path is directly related to the three types of cultivation of virtues: morality, concentration and wisdom. The spiritual practice of walking along these paths leads to the true cessation of suffering and finds its highest point in nirvana.
The philosopher draws attention to the specific starting point indicated by the Buddhist tradition itself.
The Indian prince, who gave his first youth to all sorts of worldly pleasures, at the age of 30, having met a beggar, a sick man, a cripple and a dead man, thinks about the fragility of worldly well-being and leaves his harem to meditate on the meaning of life in solitude. Whatever the degree of historical accuracy of this legend, it vividly expresses the simple truth that material life, even under the most exceptionally favorable conditions, is in itself unsatisfactory. All worldly blessings are fragile, illness, old age and death are the common destiny of living beings: such Pessimism of beings relying on their limited existence is an axiom.
However, the confidence in the possibility of finding salvation from suffering makes the prince, having fully experienced the path of asceticism and discarding it as a delusion, discover the Middle Way. The Buddha Dharma equally criticizes both nihilism (denial of existence) and eternalism (independence of existence), defining the chain of dependent arising as the only mechanism for the formation of limited worlds of existence (Samsara). One of the most detailed definitions of the infinity and infinity of Nirvana is given by the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra: “There is no ignorance, there is no getting rid of it, there is no old age, there is no death, there is also no getting rid of them. there is no knowledge, there is also no achievement, since there is nothing to achieve. Overcoming ideas about the boundaries of one's own existence leads to the realization of the emptiness of any designation of "oneself" and thus overcomes attachment to the emergence and cessation of the existence of individual forms: "one's" body, "one's" mind. But this point of view is unfounded, because suffering is the nature of samsaric existence, conditioned by delusions. Nirvana is the cessation of samsaric existence. In the case of comparison with an extinguished candle, fuel is delusion. Fire is suffering. As for the non-existence of nothing, Buddhist ontology denies being not conditioned by cause and effect. Conditioned being is recognized.
Schopenhauer and Hartmann
The latest form of absolute pessimism (in Schopenhauer and Hartmann) also does not provide any grounds for turning evil into some kind of transcendent attribute of being. Evil here comes down to suffering itself, suffering really exists only because it is recognized - and consciousness for P.'s philosophy is nothing more than a brain phenomenon (Gehirnphänomen) and, therefore, is possible only for organisms that have a nervous system and suffer with a certain degree of irritation of the sensitive nerves. Consequently, the suffering of every being is limited by the limits of its given bodily existence and completely ceases with the destruction of the organism in death.
Schopenhauer and Hartmann talk a lot about "world suffering", but it is from their point of view that this can only be a rhetorical figure, because the world, that is, its single metaphysical principle - "will", "unconscious", etc. - cannot suffer : for this it would have to at least have its own sensory nerves and brain, which it does not have. The universal cannot suffer; only the individual suffers in its organic incarnation, destroyed by death. Really existing suffering is limited only to the area of consciousness - people and animals; all these beings suffer, but each one separately, and the suffering of each ends completely with the end of his life.
If Schopenhauer is right that one cannot feel, imagine, know "outside one's skin", then it is just as impossible to suffer outside these limits; therefore, other people's suffering can be painful for everyone only through their reflection within his "skin", that is, through his body, and completely disappear with his death. Thus, unconditional Pessimism, neither in its ancient Indian nor in its new Germanic form, is able to deprive death of its significance as the final deliverer from the misfortunes of life, and from this point of view, nothing logically prevents anyone from hastening such deliverance through suicide.
The attempts of Schopenhauer and Hartmann to reject this conclusion by their extreme weakness confirm its inevitability. The first says that suicide is a mistake, because it does not destroy the essence of evil (the world will), but only the phenomenon. But no suicidal person sets himself such an absurd task as the destruction of the essence of things. As a suffering phenomenon, he wants to get rid of his life as a painful phenomenon - and he undoubtedly achieves such a goal from the point of view of Schopenhauer himself, who, for all his pessimism, cannot assert that the dead suffer.
Hartmann, fully recognizing that the final goal is precisely suicide, demands that the individual man, in the interests of humanity and the universe, refrain from personal suicide and devote his energies to preparing the means for that universal collective suicide with which the historical and cosmic process must end. This is the highest moral duty, while killing oneself in order to get rid of one's own suffering is characteristic of people who stand on the lowest, eudemonistic level of ethics. The latter, of course, is true, but its own principle of unconditional pessimism logically excludes any other ethics.
If the whole point is to annihilate a painful existence, then there is no way to reasonably prove to someone that he should have in mind not his own, really experienced torments, but the supposed torments of that distant offspring who will be capable of an act of collective suicide; and for those future pessimists, the current personal suicide of a given subject can be (in the sense of Hartmann) useful as an example to follow, for it is clear that if everyone kills himself, then the common goal will be achieved. - In fact, unconditional pessimism, as originally appeared, and to the end remains only the fruit of satiated sensuality. This is its true meaning and its limitation. A fair assessment of material life, which, taken separately, is only “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” leads the thinking mind to the true conclusion that “the whole world lies in evil,” which is the end of the truth of pessimism.
But when a person who has known to satiety the unsatisfactoriness of carnal life and is not animated by a predominant interest in something else, better, unlawfully generalizes and expands the negative result of his experience, then instead of a true pessimistic attitude towards the one-sided material direction of life, a false assertion is obtained that she herself life, the world itself and being itself are evil and torment. In this principle of unconditional pessimism, 1) moral evil is not distinguished from suffering and distress, or physical evil, and 2) evil, so vaguely understood, is taken as the true fundamental principle of all being, which not only is not based on anything, but also leads to obvious absurdities. Thus, consistently applying this point of view, one would have to recognize illness as a permanent normal state, and health as an accidental and incomprehensible anomaly; but in this case we would not notice the disease and painfully feel health as a violation of the norm; meanwhile, on the contrary, health is usually not noticed by us precisely as a primary, normal state, while illness is painfully recognized as an incidental, accidental deviation from the norm. Unconditional pessimism in the moral sphere also leads to similar absurdities.
Sometimes any view is called pessimism that recognizes the reality and importance of evil in the world, but only as a secondary, conditioned and overcome factor of human and natural existence. Such relative pessimism is contained in many philosophical and most religious systems; but it cannot be considered outside the general connection of one or another world outlook, in which it enters as one of the constituent elements.
Pessimist- this is a person with sharply negative life beliefs, who is characterized by alienation, anxiety and categoricalness. A pessimist always has one universal explanation for all his failures, is inclined to capitulate in all directions if failure befalls him in only one area. For this person, if something starts badly, then it ends the same way. He blames himself exclusively for all the troubles, complains about how weak he is, and is unworthy to do an outstanding job.
What does pessimist mean? The definition of a pessimist has several meanings. The first meaning of the word pessimist is a person prone to negativism, configured in a pessimistic way. The second meaning of the word pessimist is a person of a pessimistic temperament, which reduces everything in the world to the worst.
There is also such a definition of the word pessimist - this is a characteristic that in everything that sees only evil around, looks at all things too gloomy.
A pessimist can be distinguished from the total number of people by their distinctive features: an extremely pronounced lack of confidence in their own actions, a categorical negative assessment of everything around them, a tendency to constantly experience negative ones, alienation, gloom and closeness. These traits are both properties and factors that determine mental personal processes, which are responsible for all human actions. From this it follows that a person's constant disposition to trouble becomes a factor that makes him a pessimist. A person with pessimistic views believes that life does not bring him happiness, does not bring joy.
A pessimist very easily falls into a long and strong. The physical health of a pessimist is not of high quality, on the contrary, it often worries him, so such a person is almost always sick. In the field of personal success, this is a person who rarely achieves significant results in activities, and often in this he is hampered by uncertainty and his abilities.
Who is a pessimist
A person with a pessimistic worldview, gloomily looks not only at the future of society, but also at his own life, does not expect anything good from her. It can be said that he does not even recognize that life can have a white and black stripe, for him it is gray. Therefore, this individual perceives even a joyful event as dangerous, because it portends that a threat follows it.
What does pessimist mean? This concept denotes the personality of a special person, which is expressed in his views, which differ from the beliefs of most people, since the majority are optimists. Pessimists find it difficult to believe in the sincerity of people's benevolent intentions, and it is difficult for them to admit the possibility that others may want to do positive and merciful acts towards them.
A pessimist worries about the fate of society, does not expect anything good and pleasant from the news, does not believe in real progress, it is difficult for him to imagine an improvement in the current state of affairs, the prosperity and well-being of his country. Such a person thinks that everything that the citizens of his country are trying to do for the sake of positive changes is in vain, and reinforces this with his observations, in which he states that there are always more negative consequences than positive ones, so he sees no point in trying.
A pessimistic individual believes that a particularly very happy event is bad, as it will have even more tragic consequences. Due to a pessimistic attitude, he becomes unable to sincerely enjoy life events.
The pessimist lives in a world that he does not allow others to enter, so that they do not even try to understand him. Therefore, it is very difficult for him to exist when most people around are positive personalities. One can only assume what a pessimistic person feels, because he lives without hoping for the best, without trusting people, their feelings and sincerity, he lives practically without faith. This does not mean that other people look at everything through rose-colored glasses, because you should not ignore the negative aspects of life either. However, if negative moments are still present in life, then you need to fight them, correct the situation, achieve a better result, “do not give up” and do not refer to the injustice of fate.
A pessimist is a person who reduces everything to the worst possible outcome, when everything is not so bad. It is difficult to make him rejoice at something, since he does not have a prism of joy through which this person could evaluate the event. Therefore, this person is often not informed about the events that have happened - such as a birthday, a wedding, and others. It’s just that people know that they won’t wait for congratulations, instead they will hear that everything does not matter. Not only does the pessimist treat joyful events so categorically, he perceives sad situations in the same way.
A pessimist is always associated with a whiner, a person who complains about life and all his life events. However, he is also a person, which means that he also needs to do a certain thing in society. Often he has a stable job that provides for specific responsibilities. But it is often difficult for pessimists to find the best occupation for themselves, they start doing one thing, if they fail, then they try another, if this fails, then they start the third, well, if they failed for the third time, then they become depressed. However, there is an explanation for all this. Often a pessimist cannot achieve what he wants, because he lacks patience, effort, confidence - after all, this is important in achieving success. He is also capable of being led astray by the statements of people, which raise doubts.
The disposition to expect troubles and troubles, which is characteristic of all pessimists, is a very strong stress factor that increases in a stressful life: failures in relationships, problems at work. But stress can happen to anyone. It turns out that optimists can also experience nervous states. This means that a person with an optimistic attitude, as well as with a pessimistic one, can get into equal conditions. Here it is important how a person will behave further, so you can immediately determine who he is. An optimist, most likely, despite the failure, will increase his efficiency and activity, which will lead to a positive result. The pessimist will become helpless and doom himself to failure. However, if he tried, he would be able to succeed, because there is a possibility of this very success.
Despite the above qualities of a pessimist, one should not underestimate him. Sometimes his qualities are very useful. Pessimism in many situations can bring a person back to reality, so he is rarely disappointed, because he does not hope for anything. A pessimist can give a critical, objective assessment of the situation. Pessimists are almost always focused, so they can keep control of the external situation.
How to become a pessimist
Most psychologists and scientists come to the conclusion: whether a person becomes a pessimist or not depends only on him alone, his way of life, his way of behaving, his worldview, his environment.
There are people who in their childhood were serious losers, but in the future this did not prevent them from becoming successful people. It even had a positive effect on them, as it tempered the spirit. Another thing is if the stability of a successful person's affairs begins to collapse, he starts having troubles that break his spirit. Because of what a person loses his former grip and confidence. It has been observed that many become pessimists with age. Most young, young people are optimists. But the time comes when a person rethinks things, finds a new meaning, stops rushing, becomes more circumspect and disposed to introspection. This person, although pessimistic, is not a loser. Such pessimism is expressed in wisdom and experience.
Is it good that a person becomes a pessimist? This can be stated in a specific situation.
The most unpleasant are those pessimists who complain about their personal lives, how bad their affairs are. Some people try to correct such a person, but if he has been like this all his life, then it will not be easy to change him, since for him pessimism is a way of life that does not need to be changed. It is worth accepting it as such, and avoid frequent communication if it is too depressing.
A pessimistic attitude is also laid down in childhood. Parents especially influence the worldview of the child, so he copies their behavior. A child who sees that parents do not adequately relate to reality, exposing events in gloomy colors, begins to subconsciously copy this. There is a good chance that a child who grows up in these relationships will be more likely to be depressed.
A person himself directly affects the emergence of pessimism in himself. Due to insecurity, low self-esteem and, a person will blame himself for the problems that arise. A negatively minded person is not able to objectively assess what is happening. This way of life is very wrong and leads to the fact that a person begins to live like this.
The thinking of pessimists leads to their constant bad luck. They are fixated on the fact that they themselves are the cause of all bad events, such thoughts only attract even more failures, personally creating a black streak for themselves.
Pessimists are indecisive people who themselves make their lives gray and are afraid to change it, dragging themselves into the abyss. An individual who has a pessimistic worldview falsely believes that it is better to experience negative emotions than none at all. He believes that thanks to this he feels that he lives.
Due to the real unsaturation of life, pessimists can create fictional tragedies. Of course, sad and tragic events happen that break a person and he loses his positive. Therefore, it is very important to preserve optimism in life, let go of pain, realize feelings and gain experience.
Almost every one of us is able to have a positive attitude at least temporarily. But when a person is faced with various life problems and failures, there comes a time for pessimism.
Pessimism is not a disease. This is a temporary state of a person's personality, characterized by complete apathy towards everything. A person loses interest in life in general and in activities that previously pleased and brought joy. The sleep of pessimists is poor, intermittent and restless. Pessimists spend a lot of energy persuading themselves to go to work, school, or just go to the grocery store. It is difficult for them to do all this, since they do not have the usual desires and aspirations.
Many pessimists don't think there's anything wrong with them. They blame the symptoms of pessimism on chronic fatigue and temporary bad mood. But this is their big mistake. A person can stay in this state for quite a long time, thereby spoiling the mood of others and poisoning his own life.
Most often, a predisposition to pessimism appears in people from childhood. And its first manifestations occur in adolescence. A common cause of pessimism is unrequited love. But sometimes the reason may be, for example, dissatisfaction with their appearance.
How to deal with pessimism
Depending on the severity of the disorder, you need to decide how to deal with it.
In rare cases, the help of an experienced psychologist and medication is required. But more often, the help of others and loved ones is enough. In addition, a person himself should try to understand himself and solve problems without harm to health. After all, it is always easier to avoid problems than to solve them. Positive emotions are the key to overcoming bad moods. Try to do things you love that bring you joy. It is better if these classes are collective, together with well-disposed relatives and friends. It can be going to the cinema, theater, visiting interesting places, walking or just listening to your favorite music.
In order to cope with pessimism, you need to work on yourself every day, on your worldview. This must be done every day, try to look at things from the good side. A person who is confident and happy is nice to look at. Such people smile affably and freely communicate with people. There have not yet been successful pessimists in the world. To achieve goals in life, you need to love her and please the actions of the people around her.
People have different attitudes to the events that take place around them, and they can be conditionally divided into two groups: pessimists and optimists. The concepts are quite common, but at the same time, few people can correctly and accurately explain what a pessimist and an optimist mean. There are certain criteria by which such people can be distinguished, but at the same time, a person can move from one group to another during his life.
Who is a pessimist?
To begin with, let's turn to the dictionary, which says that a pessimist is a person who sees only the bad in any events. For him, the world is presented to a greater extent in dark colors. Many people call pessimists whiners because they often complain about their lives and the failures they face so often. At the same time, it is worth noting that pessimists cannot be called losers, since they can become successful in life, always noticing possible difficulties in time. It is also worth noting that pessimists are most common among older people who have experienced numerous disappointments and problems, which makes them pay more attention to the negative aspects.
Continuing to understand what a pessimist means, it is worth saying that this “label” is not a sentence and a person can look at things differently during his life. It all depends on the circumstances and if everything goes well, then the pessimistic mood disappears.
What is the difference between a pessimist and an optimist?
- Pessimists assess the situation more soberly and do not overestimate their own capabilities, so it is easier for them to predict their own ups and downs. Optimists tend to use superficial thinking for the most part and often raise the bar when faced with disappointment.
- Optimists have hope and believe in a good outcome of events, which helps them not to give up and strive towards their goals.
- Scientists believe that pessimists are more developed, therefore, although they are sad, they are wise.
- Optimists live happier lives by seeing beautiful things around them that allow them to fight bad moods and endure stressful situations more easily.
In order not to go to extremes, it is best to find a "golden mean" in order to correctly assess things around and not build illusions.
How to become an optimist from a pessimist?
Psychologists say that every person has the opportunity to change their thinking and learn to look at the world differently.
How to stop being a pessimist:
- No need to look for those responsible for your failures. Think of them as an experience from which it is worth drawing the right conclusion so that you no longer face similar problems.
- Believe in your own strength. There is no need to beat yourself up, even if you have to face failures. Faith in your own strength will be an important incentive not to stop and try to achieve success again.
- Surround yourself with positive people, as both good and bad examples are contagious.
- Eliminate things from your life that are painful and uncomfortable. If you have to do unloved work, then try to deal with them in the morning.
- Read positive books, watch movies, and surround yourself with positive experiences. It is recommended to travel at any opportunity, getting new experiences.
- The main attribute of an optimist is a smile. Try to smile more often, even to yourself in the mirror. Smiling around you can get a great charge of positive emotions. Only this applies to a sincere smile.
- Find an activity that will distract from problems and bring positive
Greetings, friends! I want to talk today about people who do not bring joy to anything, and in everything that surrounds them, they see only the bad. What kind of people are these, and how not to become a hostage to their gloomy mood. I want to tell you about all this and much more in my article. A pessimist is who - this will be our topic for conversation today.
In general, we all know what a pessimist is and how he differs from an optimist. A pessimist is always anxious and wary, while an optimist is positive and sees only the good in everything. This is true, but I want to dig a little deeper and tell you all the interesting moments in the life of a pessimist.
You can always learn more about this type of people by looking at the Litres website, where you can find a book on any topic that interests you. Here is one of them, by Alexei Budischev " Optimist and pessimist».
Sad mood is a diagnosis
A pessimist is a person who often lives a dull life, he does not rejoice at anything, and if he rejoices, then very carefully, as if it is forbidden by law. He does this with caution, because he thinks that he will jinx himself and after this joyful event he will suffer even greater failures and disappointments.
Such, negativity and emptiness in oneself. And it is worth spending a long time in a company with such a person, as changes are immediately felt. At first, you involuntarily listen to him, but do not share his views. Then you just listen and already with some positions in the depths of your soul you agree with him. A little more time - and you are already like-minded people! If you do not want to get infected with the bad mood of a pessimist, then simply limit the time of communication with him to a minimum.
Getting on the right track
If you are such a person, but you are ready to change for the better, then this will work out on the condition that you stop being afraid of your fears, learn to go to the end. ? My advice will help you get on the path that will lead you to a brighter world full of pleasant emotions. Of course, this does not mean that there will be no negativity at all in life. But that's the point, that you need to be able to accept different events, without losing confidence that all obstacles can be overcome.
Even if something didn’t work out the third time, then you shouldn’t lose heart - it will definitely work out the fourth time. The main thing is to stay strong and under no circumstances that oppress you and predispose you to depression.
From my own experience I can say that there is a difference between a pessimist and a pessimist. How can this be? Yes, very simple. There are people who have gained life experience over the years, but at the same time have become a little withdrawn and more calm. They began to soberly assess any situation that has developed, they try to look at things realistically, but at the same time not to lose heart, but to calmly and confidently move on.
As a rule, such pessimism is manifested in the wisdom of a person. When you just become careful in everything, you do not rely on anyone, but you draw strength from within yourself. This understanding of what is happening comes with age. This type of pessimism cannot be called a failure or an unhappy one. This is a personality that has been formed throughout life, gaining experience.
There is also a type of people who constantly whine, complain about their lives. Not only do they carry a gloomy mood, they also get everyone around them with their discontent. Whatever they do, the result is always the same - negative.
This happens because the pessimist is always configured that y. It didn’t work out once, on the second he won’t even try, because he’s sure that it’s all in vain. But the only advantage of a pessimist is indifference to everything. That is, having set himself up in this way, he does not expect anything, and therefore he is never disappointed.
Exit somewhere near
But, as they say, whoever seeks will always find a way out of any situation, the main desire and a positive attitude. And you don't have to try to move mountains right away. You need to start simple. There is one fact: in order for our brain to get used to something, we need to do it every day for 21 days. So, if you are used to constantly complaining, then there is a good way for you to try to control yourself.
One American priest, Will Bowen, came up with this method in 2006. At first glance, there is nothing unusual in it, but, as practice has shown, not everything is so simple. On the wrist you put on any bracelet. It can be a chain, a lace - it doesn’t really matter who has what. With him you have to go 21 days. But what is the essence of what he does useful?
The meaning of the experiment is that from the moment the bracelet appears on your wrist, you should not complain, gossip or tell something about yourself with resentment. If you could not resist and cried to someone, then the bracelet is hung on the other hand and the countdown starts again. Try it, start with this method! Firstly, it is interesting, and secondly, it is useful and effective.
One life - different people
So, who better to be - or a pessimist? An optimist never loses heart, but his perception of the world around him can be a little overstated. And yet, he easily endures failure and quickly recovers. A pessimist, on the contrary, does not expect anything good, so as not to be upset. He is always with a gloomy mood and a dull look.
There are still such types of people as realists and skeptics. Pessimists are often mistaken for skeptics, but no, they are completely different people. A skeptic to the last will doubt anything until he himself ascertains the reality of what is happening or what happened. Sometimes he questions even the obvious things. A pessimist will be indifferent and sad. Realists, on the other hand, are neutral. They adjust themselves to the realities by learning certain rules of life. As a result, most often such people achieve the desired goal, enjoying it.
In conclusion, I want to say that, no matter who you are, you should never give up. There is always an opportunity to start over. The main thing is to be interested, to find and see this opportunity. Whether it is a relationship with your girlfriend, an important project, or work on yourself and your mistakes - never lose heart, but only go forward. Nothing works out only for that person who does not try to change something in his life. And I will add only one thing - people are able to change, and this is wonderful.
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I wish you all good luck. See you soon!
