Most online content I see is fights between different factions of Weird Pessimists, with Normal Optimists stepping in to tell others not to be so “negative” or to add jokes, cute animals, or promotional materials.
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I was a Weird Optimist kid, a Normal Optimist in college, and a Weird Optimist again afterwards (though my cultural markers were more Weird Pessimist, since I came from an intellectual family).
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(I need to add that I also have a very strong Normal Pessimist side — Eastern European, immigrant, started with odd jobs, former war and Holocaust researcher etc. It’s a weird “asset” I probably won’t use until the Apocalypse
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I like weird optimism. I don’t want a weird optimism winter! What can we do to encourage?
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Amplify those who practice it? Or people who practiced it in the past?
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I think Weird Optimism turns into Weird Pessimism when it gets commoditized and (legal or cultural) liability becomes a factor for platforms hosting it. Pretending that you're on the side of the angels in a hostile world buys some insurance against...
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...being held responsible for everything that happens on your platform. There's also something in here about how commodotized products sell a higher % of aspirational hope than actual participatory communities do...
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What are you, by the way?