Seymour
Vaguely Precise
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2009
- Messages
- 1,579
- MBTI Type
- INFP
- Enneagram
- 5w4
- Instinctual Variant
- sx/so
Ahh, this reminds me of a conversation I had with Jennifer and why she's more inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt and why I'm not.
Basically I was like people can't be that stupid, I truly believe people are smarter than that and since I believe they are I expect them to be.
She was basically like I believe people are that stupid and since they are I can cut them some slack.
[...]
This is kind of the dark underbelly of idealism, I think. The more positive your view of human nature, the less slack you tend to give people. If you think humans are naturally wise and intelligent, then stupid and foolish behavior pretty much HAS to be intentionally caused or inflicted somewhere up the line.
That's one problem I have with theology and belief systems that say that people are born naturally 100% good, nice, sweet and innocent. In my experience, we are born bundles of conflicting, often selfish desires and we have to learn (painfully) how to channel those tendencies productively and nondestructively.
I've learned that personally it works best for me to have low expectations so I can be pleasantly surprised. I tend to come across as a kind of an up-beat pessimist. Definitely not in the rose-colored glasses camp.
However, I've heard optimists get more done even though they typically have a less accurate conception of reality. Go figure.