...Pessimism is defined as having a negative, cynical view on one’s life and surroundings and is demonstrated frequently in Thomas Hardy’s poetry. He shows a fixation with the past in his work and expresses regrets about several failed romances in his life, most notably with his first wife, Emma and these become a recurring theme in his poetry. He romanticises the past, both on a personal level and when considering wider society. I partly agree with the statement because he seems to view life as a ceaseless struggle. For example in ‘A Wish For Unconsciousness’ he describes life as being a “cross [burden] to bear” and muses “If I could but abide, as a tablet on a wall”, which proves he has a pessimistic view of life because he occasionally expresses a wish for it to end. This is made more melancholy by the fact Hardy did not believe in God so struggled to believe in heaven. In ‘Hap’, he discusses with himself the cause of the suffering in the world and concludes that “crass casualty obstructs the sun and rain”, that it is fate, not God, that controls our lives. He demonstrates a slightly depressing view of the dead in his poem ‘Friends Beyond’ when he claims they have “no wish to hear the tidings, how the people’s fortunes shift”. In his short composition ‘Christmas 1924’, he expresses a cynical view of the uselessness of religion “after two thousand years of mass, we’ve got as far as poison-gas” . Hardy’s poetry often comments on human nature and society. He idealises his idea...
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...if we only believe the things that we want to see. Sometimes the truth is the only thing that hurts us the most. But in the long run, would you rather live in a world full of lies than to live with the truth? Many Filipinos believe that the youth is the hope of this nation. But I believe that the youth is not simply the hope of the nation. The youth itself is the nation. Every little decision of the youth affects the future of the society. Every little deed makes up someone’s history. Every youth can be a hero in their own paths. But are they given that chance and opportunity to change the nation’s future? The word of the youth is commonly considered to be futile. In the society we live in someone’s worth or sense is measured by the age and by the number of wrinkles on one’s forehead. The truth is, the voice of the youth is more sincere and more straightforward. It is an honest voice which is overruled by emotions without any limitations or thoughts to consider because the youth is as innocent as an infant but not as aged as an elder. It means that the youth is like a hybrid of two magnificent states, the pureness of the mind of a child and the wisdom developed through time floating in a place of equilibrium. What can the youth do? What can the youth contribute to ease that pain that was inflicted to the Filipinos by the Filipinos themselves? The youth cannot do much with their physical prowess, nor can we help by our financial capabilities. All we can do is to become an instrument...
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...Thinking and Decision Making MGT/350 March 4, 2010 Thinking and Decision Making Thinking Styles Emotional Thinkers Emotions are a vital part of the decision making process and the human experience. Emotional thinkers begin with a thought that translates to their behavior. An emotional thinker reaction is in connection to their personal belief system of the environment or culture that they were raise in. Emotions and behavior are the two main characters of an emotional thinker,which drives thoughts. Emotional thinkers can have a positive effect on the decision making process. These thinkers can be compassionate toward others, which a logical thinker may only rely on facts. Whereas emotions can be used as a positive tool to how others how much a person cares, it can also have negative consequences. Emotions limit the ability to apply critical thinking toward the thinking process. Anger has ruined countless relationships, cause many fights, and motivates leaders into makingbad decisions. This happens when a person allows his or her emotions to impair their judgmentduring the thinking process; it limits their ability to think critically. Kirby and Goodpastor (2007) points out that no matter what the underlining factors, when a person display emotions with anger, it is important not to make decisions. Pessimistic Thinking Pessimistic thinking is negative thinking. A person who thinks pessimistically rarely has anything positive to say and is always looking...
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...Pessimism is an internal stressor to the body. When encountering a challenging situation a pessimist's fight/flight response will be triggered more often and stay switched on for longer than an optimistic person. Pessimism decreases their stress resistance. When people are pessimistic it is difficult to have hope when they face difficulties. They think the difficulties will go on forever and they tend to think they cannot do anything to change or influence events. This stops the pessimist taking any action that would improve their situation. Pessimism undermines the pessimist confidence and interferes with their quality of life. It makes life harder and they stop trying to achieve their goals because they think they will fail before they even started (Specialty Behavioral Health, 2003). When pessimistic sees the company going nowhere, they tend to think bad about the company and themselves. Pessimist think that their opportunities with this company are limited and he or she will not progress within this company. A person who is pessimistic will bring the rest of the employees down with him or her. Their way of thinking is the wright way and there is no other. They are the bad apple (Caroline Clark, 2010) Their thoughts are limited to the negativity of the situation or discussion that they have to make. Opportunities that they are seeking pass by without them knowing they were there. For example, an opportunity arises for the pessimist to show...
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...Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being Question 1: What alternatives to cosmetic depression drugs do you think would be effective and how could universities apply them to depressed students? In Flourish, Martin Seligman describes two forms of medication: cosmetic drugs and curative drugs. He further explains that insurance companies can only reimburse brief treatments because a complete cure generally implies more time and cost. As a result, Seligman concludes, all psychopharmacopoeai drugs are cosmetic, palliative, and only temporary fixes. Thus, the use of positive psychology in the treatment of depressed patients is even more important. One tactic that could help in the betterment of college students is the use of a “Gratitude Visit.” In this exercise, an individual is encouraged to think of a single person who helped them in some way, but was never properly thanked. Next, the individual must write a letter of gratitude to this person, being thorough and specific in their examples of how this person influenced and affected the individual’s life. Finally, the individual must call this person and arrange for a meeting, face-to-face. At this meeting, they will read the letter, slowly and carefully, allowing a discussion of the content and their response to follow. What is the benefit of this practice? Seligman argues the results will lead the individual to happiness and less depression within a month. Among college students, this influence...
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...upon learning of a reading assignment. We were assigned to read Phillis Wheatley’s poem “On being brought from Africa to America”. Prior to reading the poem I decided to research the life of Phillis Wheatley. I did this so that I could have a better understanding of what I was about to read. This is why I imagine one of her poems was chosen for reading in our Stories of Immigration course. In the next few sentences I will share with you some of Wheatley’s experience in America. You will discover some of the hardships Wheatley faced. I ask that as you read and think of the experiences that are being described, place yourself in Wheatley’s shoes. What would you do? How would you feel? Would you choose to live a life of optimism or pessimism? Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped at a young age; stripped from the arms of her mother, taken away from the only land that she knew. We all have heard of the dreadful voyage from the west coast of Africa to the eastern American coastlines. Upon landing, Phillis took an immensely negative experience and was able to find something good out of the ordeal. I am not so sure that I would have been able to do or see the sun shine through the rain as Phillis was able to. I am close to my parents and Lord knows how much I love and need my mom. Imagine the thought of no longer seeing your family. Visualize never seeing that closest relative. The one who nurtured you taught you and showed you all that you know. This is precisely what Phillis...
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...Ra’Kel Brown ♥ 900828441 Candide Chapter 5: Identifying Various Philosophical Positions Candide is Voltaire’s criticism against nobility, philosophy, the church, and cruelty. The novel savagely simulates a number of Enlightenment philosophies. In chapter 5, two examples of the four philosophical positions were demonstrated. The book is mainly about Candide, the illegitimate nephew of a German baron. Before chapter 5, an Anabaptist named Jacques takes Candide and Pangloss, Candide’s teacher in. The three travel to Lisbon together, but before they could arrive there, their ship runs into a storm. Despite his kindness, Jacques is pessimistic about human nature. He drowns in the Bay of Lisbon while trying to save the life of an ungrateful sailor; dying in his altruism. Candide and Pangloss arrive in Lisbon to find it destroyed by an earthquake and under the control of the Inquisition. There were many groans of dying and buried victims from the ruins. Pangloss and Candide help them, and Pangloss comforts the victims by telling them the earthquake is for the best. However, one of the officers of the Inquisition accuses Pangloss of heresy because of his optimism. He states that the fall and punishment of man proves that everything is not for the best. In this chapter, Pangloss gives a great portrayal of philosophical optimism. Philosophical optimism, developed by Leibniz between the late 17th and early 18th century, is the belief that this is the best of all possible worlds and humans...
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...negative attitudes in their team. Procedures: * Participants are gathered in a specific area (room or open space) * Participants are then group into smaller groups. * Three glasses will be presented to the group an empty glass, half fill glass with water and a full glass with water. * Individuals in the group will be ask “which glass is full” * The group is given a time to discuss the given matter on hand. * Each group will write their answer on a piece of paper then submitted to the facilitator. Processing: This module provides an excellent opportunity, when working with a wide range of participants, to consider how attitude can impact on performance. Topics where the inclusion of a module looking at optimism/pessimism might be beneficial include: Managing change, problem solving and decision making and communication skills. * How did you find the activity? * What did you feel during the activity? * How did you work the activity? * What did you do during the activity? * What did you learn during the activity? * How can you apply these in your life? Lecture: Oscar Wilde once said the difference between an optimist and a pessimist is that the optimist sees the donut, the pessimist the hole. I guess that means pessimists are better calorie-counters. Seriously, though, there’s a big difference in these two viewpoints, one that can have a huge impact on...
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...We have read Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman in our English class this semester, our task is to address Seligman’s rules for being successful and deciding whether or not we agree with his argument. Although I have not read the whole book, we were assigned to read chapters 1, 2, 3, and 12 and by that I was supplied with enough information to construct my own opinion on his claims. Martin Seligman argues that learning to be optimistic can change your way of life and empower yourself through non-negative thinking and I agree because after reviewing everything that I’ve been though these past 5 years, I found that having a positive mindset has got me though some of the hardest times in my life. Summary: In Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman argues that how you explain events to yourself after they happen has a huge impact on your life. In chapter one, Seligman defines two different type of people, pessimists – people who believe in bad events are their own fault and the consequences of the event will last a long time and optimists – people who believe bad events are only temporary, the events are not their fault and can either be caused by bad luck or other people. He goes on to explain that after 25 years of research, he is sure that if we believe bad events are our fault, more of it will befall on us and that the point of his book is to teach us how to recognize out pessimistic tendencies, stop them, and practice an optimistic lifestyle. He believes that because of the negativity...
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...Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 from a quite poor family: his humble origins will always be a source of shame for him, and that’s why he will always try to hide them. Moreover, his origins determinate his absolute pessimism about the chances of being fulfilled in this context and, in general, about humans’ destiny. He believes that every man has a sort of predestination to failure, without any help from society or love. As a matter of fact, the middle class is self-righteous, full of prejudices and pretender, money is owned only by a small part of the society, whereas all the other people starve to death. He tries to denounce this awful situation (despite the censure to which he is forced), and that’s why his novels are so provocative: as a matter of fact, in “Tess d’Ubervilles”, the main character is always described as pure, lovely and innocent, even if she’s an unmarried mother and kills Alec, her first husband. This murder, as a matter of fact, is caused only by circumstances and not by the will of doing violence on him. His pessimistic ideas are caused not only by the reality in which he lives, but also by scientific movements and the new geological discoveries: because of them, he rejects Christian doctrine and the Bible and starts to think man is insignificant. One other really important element is Hardy novels (which also determinates his tragic view of life) is Nature: it isn’t just the background of his novels, but a real character; it is a lively force always...
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...Question Write a three- to five-page (600-900 word) response to the following question: In "Why the Future Doesn't Need Us" (pp. 285-301), Bill Joy expresses a powerful pessimism about the dangers of technologies that may be developed later in our century. Joy also a muted optimism about humans' ability to use ethical principles to avoid those dangers. What are Joy's best reasons for being pessimistic? What are his strongest reasons for expressing optimism? As you consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of those reasons, explain whether and why you find yourself more pessimistic or more optimistic about the issues that Joy raises. (PL 401) INTRODUCTION The development of technologies in the modern world has been seen to many as blessing. The use of technology has greatly affect the living style of human race as most of them are develop to improve life of human being and also prolong their lifetime, for instance the use of technology such as robot in carrying out surgical operation in the hospitals to treat diseases like cancer, genetic engineering in farming to increase production is a great promised that the technology has brought. On the other hand, Bill Joy who is a well known computer elite expresses his fear that the technology advancement in the modern world could bring more harm than good to human race and the planet at large. Joy feels that the technologies that may develop later in the 21st century...
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...According to Miller why do some not consider tragedy a relevant genre for the modern age? According to Miller there are very few tragedies written in the modern age, this is because of the rareness of heroes among us. Miller believes that the ‘Modern man has had the blood drawn out of his organs of belief by the scepticism of science’. What Miller is meaning by this is that today the society is reserved and is unwilling to take risks resulting in very few tragedies being written. Miller concludes by saying that he believes that tragedies are seen as old fashioned in today’s society, he also believes that tragedies were only suitable for the ‘very highly placed’ such as the kings or kingly. Who does Miller think is a suitable subject for tragedy and how does he support his claim? Miller claims that the common man is a suitable subject for a tragedy meaning the masses or the working class. Miller supports his claim by saying that modern psychiatry does in fact base its analysis upon classic formulations, for example the Oedipus where he kills his father and Orestes which is the tragedy where he kills his mother and her lover to avenge his father’s murder. However even though these tragedies were acted by royal individuals; these similar emotional situations apply to everyone. So in other words the common man would be a suitable subject for a tragedy as the common man is likely to experience similar emotional situations. According to Miller what is it about the tragic figure...
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...Since I was a child, happiness was always easy for me to achieve. Of course, the fact that I have always been lucky to live the life I do makes being happy easy. It is my optimism, however, that I give the most credit to. My outlook on life is has and always has been one of light hearted positivity. I may very well be the most optimistic person I know. You don’t just have to take my word for it though, allow me to create a mental picture in which my optimism shines in your brain like sun beams do through an open window. Optimism has been my most prominent characteristic since my early childhood years of dirty feet, scabby legs and food stained shirts. I remember looking through the windows in my home on rainy days as the water pitter pattered onto the floor and into puddles. My face showed no signs of distress as I’d squash my nose onto the foggy glass windows peering out into the watery skies. Sure, I would have to wait a little longer before I could go outside to play again, but I did not see this as a reason to fret. After all, when the rain finally ended (and I knew it would because it always did at some point) I would soon be splish splashing in the miniature pools of water that collected in every concave surface of the street and sidewalk. Mud pies would be made out of the rain drenched soils and baked under the once again visible sun, the earthworms would wiggle their way out to play and a magnificent rainbow would stretch across the sky, glittering with all of its majestic...
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...Rob has hope that he can complete his vision. He is taking the necessary steps to set his plan in motion. Even through his finance and operations people disagree with him, he is not giving up. He knows that the company board is set in their ways. The change has to start from within the company. He wants Ashley, whom works in the HR department, to help formulate a program to help get the finance and operations people to be more positive and optimistic about the changes he is trying implement. These assessments show how dedicated Rob is to the company. I believe the company will prosper with Rob taking the lead. 2. What’s your reaction to the finance manager’s pessimism? What about the market manager’s optimism? What implications does this have for Rob and the company? I am quite shocked by the finance managers’ pessimism. The finance manager can clearly see that the company is under financial strain. The company is under a cash flow strain because of decreasing revenues from their existing product line. It is very clear that the company has to make some...
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...Final Project Optimistic / Pessimistic Attribution Theory Introduction There are many theories in the field of social psychology that can be used to explain, predict, or forecast behavior. As events occur throughout history, patterns can be analyzed and attributed to known theories that were birthed by educated scholars in this field. However, no theory s absolute in its outcome. As society changes, the applicability of each theory also changes. “Social Darwinism” was coined by Richard Hofstadter to label theories created around 1870 and primarily addresses survival and creation, as it was known in that era (Leonard, 2009). It is well known that Charles Darwin theorized that only the fittest members of society would ultimately survive. Modern science and technology has expanded to depths far beyond that of the 1800s. Research and real-time information has provided an outlet which allows scholars access to information that was not available during this period. The result of this influx of data allows current day researchers – and students – the ability to expound and expand older theories to fit modern culture. Whereas Darwin’s theory may have specifically defines mortality and the ability to thrive as it pertains to life and death, survival of the fittest can now be applied to a plethora of modern day situations, such as the stock market (only those who are savvy in the art of trading will be successful), technology (on the applications...
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