Is the glass of water half-full or half-empty?

[=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=]

Sooo... I was bored the other day and I
decided to research about pessimism (yeah I'm nerdy so whut).
And then I read that many pessimists are philosophers
or intellectuals who can, for lots of times, come up
with logical justifications for their pessimistic views
of the world.

Thus prompted me to think: Without religion (more
specifically christianity and its disgustingly overoptimistic
views), are atheists more prone to pessimism and maybe
even depression?

Please discuss.
Link any good articles you found if you want. 3nodding

 

[[-Erik-]]

What? F*ck no >:l

 

[=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=]

[-Erik-]

What? F*ck no >:l

What's with the censoring...? >.>

 

[Raticiel]

I don't think being an atheist must be equal to being overall pessimistic. Of course some may say that if you don't believe in god it leads to not believing in afterlife, immortal soul and so. And that would decrease the degree of your life's meaningfulness. That's why religions exist: to give hope. But if you see your life as meaningful right here and right now, why would anyone call you pessimistic? Besides look at Wittgenstein: he wasn't a religious person, but he was extremely afraid of god's judgement (because he found god as the only possible way to justify ethics) and I think "optimism" is the last word that matches with Wittgenstein wink maybe I trivialized the poor guy too much, though. rolleyes  

[Le Pere Duchesne]

The glass has a much water as I put in minus how much have drunk or spilled...

But what is more important is how big the cup is.  

[[-Erik-]]

It also depends on how much water you have.

 

[Athena_Ritashe]

I must say, mental outlook and religion are two different things. Optimism and pessimism are related to how confident you feel about how things will result.  

[Le Pere Duchesne]

[-Erik-]

It also depends on how much water you have.

Areyou meaning to sat that... " The glass has as much water as I put in minus how much have drunk or spilled... "?  

[Raticiel]

Louis-Auguste Robespierre

The glass has a much water as I put in minus how much have drunk or spilled...

But what is more important is how big the cup is.

And we can always have seconds pirate  

[=X-Sparker + AquaKiller=]

Athena_Ritashe

I must say, mental outlook and religion are two different things. Optimism and pessimism are related to how confident you feel about how things will result.

I know they are different, but I'm thinking of pessimism
as in we atheists, without believing that a god exists to make
life better for us, find that sometimes life is just too harsh
to live on for, and ALSO we see all these idiotic bigots worsening
a bad situation by putting mental stress on innocent people
about going to hell and/or being gay is bad, etc, etc.
Like, (this is just me) don't you sometimes feel like the world is
just simply getting worse day by day?

I mean, for some (SOME, not all) people, with religious comfort
comes ignorance. They get to live in their happy bubble.
But for atheists, this "ignorance is bliss" privilege isn't all too
likely. My question is if this lack of "ignorance is bliss" privilege
increases the chances of us being pessimists.

 

[PolityOfQueens]

I say this: if the glass was in the process of being filled, it's half full. If it was in the process of being emptied, it's half empty.  

[The Random Rapist]

I think it has to do with atsological signs
Sagittariuses such as myself are more optimistic,
and Tauruses like my dad stare are more pessimistic.

 

[Raticiel]

The Random Rapist

I think it has to do with atsological signs
Sagittariuses such as myself are more optimistic,
and Tauruses like my dad stare are more pessimistic.

And we, Libras, are beyond good and evil whee Pisces are rather pessimistic, all guys in my family are Pisces and they all act like there's no sunrise tomorrow. My mom's Sagittarius, and I agree, these are very optimistic biggrin  

[D i v i n i t y]

I think there are some pretty pessimistic people that are also atheistic because some atheists (or maybe even a lot of atheists) are raised religious and are taught that god is everything good and that without god there is no meaning in life. Perhaps that is still stuck in their head and when they rationalized that there is no god, they feel as if they've accepted an uncomfortable truth. So, my hypothesis is that some atheists accept the truth that they find uncomfortable and are probably treated badly by their religious friends and family and so they tend to be a bit more pessimistic.

Also, atheists are realists... they like to see things as they are; so many of us simply don't see any point in pursuing happiness. We don't really see any ultimate meaning in life and so we're more prone to being nihilistic.

Even though there are pessimistic atheists, I think there are also a great number of optimistic ones (or at least ones that aren't chronically depressed). Many atheists see that this is our one chance at life and that we might as well make the best of it before we die.