Optimism appears to be a learned skill
Pessimism appears to be a kind of unlearning
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Walking around the jungle very happy or very sad is a sure way to die.
Maybe the loss of jungle now allows optimists and pessimists to survive.
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Pessimism seems more common with age, and optimism more common with youth. So to me, optimism seems the default and we learn pessimism. Our counter to pessimism is to unlearn it. But that can look like learning about optimism.


