Maybe it's just the people I hang out with.

But most people are despressed all the time.

It's tough when you are usually optomistic about things, like I am. I try and look for the good in people, perhaps understanding someone's mistake and looking forward to the next day. Everyone else I know is usually gloomy, rarely being a happy person. WHY?

It might be that some people are under certain circumstances, and that I can relate to in a way, seeing as how I have few oblingations or stressful things in my life.

Is this just me, or is this something more?

(My friend Brandon was incredibly pessimistic. He was rarely happy or fun to be around when we were in high school. Most of the time he was just a big pain in the ass. I thought I'd type that up since it's what I think about when the word pessimistic comes up.)

Do you consider their pessimism a negative thing?

If you are optimistic, aren't all realistic people pessimistic from your vantage point?

But to answer your question, I'm sure there are a lot of reasons, but I would guess that most depression other than purely chemical based is likely due to unfulfilled expectations. This society places a lot of emphasis on optimism which means that the reality of something might fall short of the optimistic expectation, thus leading to pessimism.

From what I have noticed, most of the people on these message type boards are all kinda like that.(IMO)

I virtually have no friends, and probably consider myself a hermit. I go to work fulltime, and come home and play videogames. I also have to pretty much rely on my fourteen year old sister for multiplayer experiences. Now, as she has her own life as well, it can get really lonely sometimes, and I can get pretty depressed as a result. Then I have to think to myself, it's my fault that I don't get out and live a little.

But, even after all of that, I can still make myself happy, but I agree that depression can make you not want to do anything. Plus, it really affects people around you if your depressed all of the time, because they get sad or upset about your situation. Sometimes they can even get impatient as you, 1ce, have basically said.

Iunno, I guess it's not hard to be pessimistic, but it is hard to put up with it. *Shrug*

If someone else is depressed, I get depressed.

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
That's why

I can't deny I'm pessismist.
I usually get depressed, but only while I'm by myself. When I get together with some friends, I cheer up quickly and can have a great time with them and do random, funny things.

It all depends on how my day starts. If I wake up late, my day is already ruin because I'll focus on all the bad things that WILL happen to me.

because you're gonna die, so am i, and so is everyone else. because there isn't exactly a POINT to anyone's lives; attempts to reference posterity, helping others, all the rest, becomes totally pointless when one points to the clock that is slowly ticking countdown to the end of the human race.

because the only real guide to enjoyment is a series of electrical currents. Because that makes hedonism seem like a viable alternative. Because hedonism is a viable alternative, even sensory hedonism. hell, we practically live that way anyway! we just have enough disgust to beat Porky over the head every time he goes into the pig sty. to stone adulteresses, to scorn, chastise, ostracise, kill those who can't keep up, emotionally or physically or normatively.

because everyone seems to some degree to be f*cked before they even start life, situational and biological roles handed out to them. Today, you get to be Mercutio!

...

Because i say all that, and still i can't think of much more to do than play along. there really is no alternative to just being animals, running around our trails to work every day and then running back home at night to feed and f*ck and fall asleep.

Because people help each other, but don't love each other much at all.

a bunch of other stuff too, i guess.

because it's all so impersonal, because we're all so callously childlike. children are ba*stards, but then they grow up and make the rules.

someone is raping someone else right at this second.

To Summarise;

if you take the short view, you end up disgusted at your own skin and meat and bone, at your animal urges and your pathetic social graces.

if you take the long view, nothing matters. not even love.

if you try and survive, you're ignoring what you still know is there. You're acting.

...

I actually feel pretty good, in case anyone was wondering. =P

... i don't know why anyone else is pessimistic, but that ^ all might have something to do with it.

http://pizza.rpgmmag.com/art/vancouver.mp3 ^_^

... Hmmm. Regal, I don't know whether to assume you were joking as usual and laugh at the sheer number of reasons for pessimism that were created within your mind (of all people), ... or whether I should strike you down with my Northern Longblade sword in act of divine punishment for saying that not even love has any meaning. Only a true demon from the darkest depths of the Abyss would say that, you know.


But, try not to take it personally that you are seemingly one of the few people who are more on the optimistic side, 1ce. I would think that life in general for most human beings can just be a little too tough for them to properly deal with it, sometimes, therefore pessimism just comes naturally to most. To me it doesn't seem wrong to have the personality of one or the other (the optimist or the pessimist) so long as your pessimism does not infect others and cause them to be depressed as well, unnecessarily, or your optimism doesn't take you too far from reality. .... Umm, I hoped that helped in some way.

That did help, SK.

And Regal....um...[spoiler]Perhaps you could summarize your earlier post and make it more....clear?[/spoiler]



I do consider pessimism a negative thing. Because from what I've seen, I tend to think like this:
Optomisism: Happy
Pessimisim: Depressed

But I've never thought about how they think. I suppose it could be said that they are more realistic. That contradicts how I think though, because I believe there are no boundaries, that anyone can do anything. So, maybe it's moreso a clash of viewpoints.

Hmmm.....If someone is depressed, then it is even harder for them to be (act) happy. From my co-workers point-of-view, they see me as a person who is always cheerful and funny, (trust me, I can really make people laugh) but honestly, it really does take a lot out of me, because I'm generally being nice so I won't hurt other's feelings, but at the same time, not thinking of myself in the process.

I guess what I'm tryin' to say is, I feel good when people are happy, and for them to be happy, I have to be happy-even when I'm depressed.

*Iunno*

Usually, I'm not interested in anything. It's not because I'm gloomy...just not interested.

Yep,
Life sucks then you die..
You hear people b*tch.
You have to wait on long lines.
You have to wait, wait, wait for most things.
You feel lots of pain.
People don't always understand your feelings.
You get old and your body starts to not look so nice
and you get all kinds of health problems.
Then one day we all just drop dead.
It's kinda hard to ignore.

aye. it seems there's a lot out there one could be pessimistic about. the queuing and the wrinkles.

^__^

but on the flipside, there is the song Vancouver by Jeff Buckley. Link above, right? nice song. i enjoy it. ^__^

I'm too lazy to do it right now (being pessimistic and unmotivated and all), but Regal, search for a song by Nick Drake called Northern Sky. It's my favorite song of his, and makes you feel good/bad at the same time. It's really bittersweet.

In theoretical summary of what Regal said, the most pessimistic thing to realize is that because people didn't create their biological self, or have the ability to initially choose the direction their mind would be trained, or even choose the strength or applicability of their (imaginary?) 'free will', then no one is really ultimately responsible for anything but most people can't accept this objective liklihood so they pretend it is not true to the point of creating religious, social, and legal systems that refuse to accept this, thus eveyrone has to take on crap that is not properly due and their is ultimately NO ONE to actually blame.

Smith: "Why? Why, Mr. Anderson, why? Why do you do it? Why keep fighting? Why get up? Do you believe you're fighting for something, for something more than your own survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom, could it be truth? Maybe it's peace, or perhaps love. Delusions, Mr. Anderson! Vagaries of perception invented by a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence without meaning or purpose! And all of it as artificial as the Matrix itself. Although... only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it by now, Mr. Anderson, you can't win! Why, why, Mr. Anderson, why do you persist?"

Me: "Okay, I give up. You win."

I'm considered to be a pessimist by many of those around, but it's my perception of reality (based on life experiences) that makes me come off that way. In actuality, I'm quite an optimistic person, though I tend to not show it that much. I don't find it worth that much to show how much of an optimist I am. With optimism usually comes idealism, and I'm a realist, so it doesn't jive all the time.