I believe there isn't much hope for humans, am I pessemistic or being realistic?

Question

For a long time, what with things being the way they are i've thought that there isn't much more room for the way we are acting. Socially were not very socially aware, looking to blame each other when things go wrong. I see many political figures abusing their power to unbelievable degrees, I see many religious people using religion to boost their own ego's and using faith as sheild to protect their own misguided ways, I see negative solutions to negative acts, I see ignorance everywhere I look, I see no real thinking, people desperately searching for answers and believing things without second thought. I see we are a long way off any kind of evolutionary revolution. My brief spell on Yahoo Answers has shocked me with some of the answers to questions of mine. (see my previous question) Am I pessemistic? realisitic? a visionary? or simply insane? (braces for torrent of replies which will make me loose even more hope)

Answer 1

I think you're a pesimistic realist - so am I - I can't not be really in the world we live in ....

Answer 2

You are being pessimistic, but that's BECAUSE you are being realistic.

Anyone who can't see how messed up the world is today is in denial or is very naive. Our planet is in a right state, and as a race we are heading towards a hellish future if we do not stop killing each other, mutilating and killing just about every other species on this planet, living for the self and material things rather than spiritually, etc etc..

I think it is possible to get humanity on a better path, but there are always going to be selfish, greedy and evil people (particularly those in positions of power) so it will be a constant struggle and it is why I believe that 'World Peace' is sadly, impossible.

Answer 3

Lily Tomlin once said "No matter how cynical I get, I just can't keep up!"

My own feeling is that life on earth was not meant to be perfect. -Man- is imperfect, so nothing he does is imperfect. Things get worse and then they get better. Maybe they have to get a bit worse this time before they get better. I sometimes take some comfort in realizing that they can't get -much- worse. But I could be surprised. 8^<

But you're right, just at the moment things seem to be pretty bad. Politics and religion are all mixed up in America, everyone is against everyone else, and our culture seems to be reaching new lows of corruption and ignorance and pettiness and disfunctionality.

But remember--it's always darkest before it goes completely black. 8^)

Answer 4

Well I would say you are a bit of a pessimist but it doesn't mean you are a not being realistic. There are many things wrong with the world and throughout time there have been very few to change or bring hope. But there is also kind of a bad message in what your saying about yourself or you are not mentioning it. You must be one of those who step up, if you want it to change. If you lock twenty murderers up with each in a small room, you will have at least nineteen dead sooner or later. So you must be the one light to bring light otherwise you will have nothing but a dark tunnel.

Answer 5

Indie, I think you may have fallen prey to a common fault: the tendency to feel one way, then look for the evidence to support it. That's how police arrest innocent people, and how prejudice starts. The challenge for us is to deliberately go looking for evidence to support the opposite position from ours. This is difficult, but that's how science operates, and we need to adopt the principals of empirical testing for our own lives.

Don't lose hope, there are so many absolutely fantastic things going on in this world! Keep looking, don't be caught looking left when you should be looking right. Talk to charitable organizations, see the kind of work they are doing. Study the work of universities around the world. Ask people about the good things in their lives, you may be surprised.

Lastly, smile. Even if you don't "feel" like smiling. A smile has amazing power over our moods and perceptions. Did you know that a smile is not the result of happiness, but the cause of it. Try it out.

Answer 6

It's a phase,it will pass. I went through the same shell-shocked disbelief. Take this as an opportunity to get your point across,you will be amazed at how many good,truth-seeking people are out there.Keep with it,when the haters get to you,make contact with a similar soul.I have a ton of contacts and I couldn't do it without them.Most important, be STRONG,what we do here is vital.

Answer 7

One aspect to war and strife is ignorance. A deep rooted ignorance of who we are, where we have come from and why we are here is a condition that compels people to construct a meaningful world by giving worship to icons and idols that give shape, form and meaning to their shared identity.
The endless number of shrines to dead soldiers for example are the objectification of these ideas and values which help to reinforce people's identity with one another as a cohesive group that is always ready to protect its shared identity and meaning through force if necessary.

At the end of the day meaning becomes enshrined in icons and idols, reinforced by law, which is simply a militant use of words. Everyone then feels secure they belong to a group, tribe or nation which has all the necesary militant systems in place to protect their common identity and culture.

What America and the UK is doing in the Middle East is to try and impose our ways on another people in the name of 'Christianity' or 'Democracy', which are just empty words. DID Sadaam Hussain try to impose the culture of Iraq upon Northern Ireland when his ruling party could see primitive people causing bloodshed in the streets of Belfast? Did he announce to the world that a regime change needed to take place in the UK in order to force people in Northern Ireland to behave in a more civilised manner?

Cultures have imposed their ways on their neighbours since the beginning of time. The biggest and the most brutal reminder of this is the Roman Empire, which still survives today in an evolved spiritual form under the quise of a Christian religion (that dethroned the Lordship of Christ at the very beginning when it compiled another wretched icon the Bible)

Many ignorant people who don't know who they are and why they are here on this planet have no choice but to assert themselves through the use of power and always end up doing exactly what Jesus said people would do. They do these horrible things to each other because they do not know anything at all other than the importance of their temporary existence.

The world is shaped by fear and intimidation. I learnt this early at school in the playground. World politics is like a playground of bullies asserting their common identity in gangs. We have not moved on from being scared little children in the school playground and it is even more scary to observe whole cultural educational and social systems around the world that reinforce ideas of common identity with a belief that their values are superior to others. That's really scary.

Addendum
A nation that calls itself Christian and asserts itself through military means I regret does not belong to the Kingdom of God. It is even more scary than anyhting else I know when people believe God is instructing them to kill their neighbour. Jesus never taught this murderous way and the Bible suggests it is OK but it is a lie from the pit of hell.

Answer 8

i think you're being a bit of both - but justifiably----- i decided today that from now on I'm not going to think any negative thoughts - i may slip up from time to time but it's worth a try

Answer 9

This question is almost the definition of pessimism. Of course humanity won't last forever, everyone knows that, but live for now when you can.

Answer 10

Never mind all that stuff. You just need an attitude adjustment. I highly recommend you repeat the lyrics (or better yet, sing them) below, and take them to heart. Best wishes for your recovery!!

AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Mister In-Between)

(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen)

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?

(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the eliminatin'' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right

(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)

You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between