Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Half a Glass
Is the glass half full or is it half empty? This little play on words is supposed to describe your view as optimistic or pessimistic, depending on your answer.
If you decide the glass is half empty, you are considered basically pessimistic because you see the dwindling supply and can look forward enough to expect that the glass will soon be completely empty.
If you decide the glass is half full, you are considered optimistic because you look at the contents as it is and consider how easily it would be to be completely full.
Both answers, of course, are correct. There is just a little bit of insight into the point of view of how you look at things in your life. Are you an idealist or a pragmatist? Bobby Kennedy once said, "Some people look at things as they are and say, why. I dream things that never were and say, why not." Bobby Kennedy was an idealist.
There are limits to what idealism can achieve. Have you heard the mantra that if you believe in something hard enough, strong enough, it will come true? Do you believe that is possible? Can faith in an event actually influence that event to come about?
I believe that it is possible but not likely. And I prefer to deal with most likely possibilities not most preferable. I think that makes me a pragmatist. Dreaming about things that never were and wondering why not is a good exercise but blood doesn't come from a turnip no matter how much you wish it were so.
So when I look at a glass I prefer to think about the practical aspects of the glass not the potential. There is half a glass. It really doesn't matter if it is half full or half empty, it is still half a glass.
Idealism vs Pragmatism. Dreams vs Reality. Creativity vs Logic. Both points of view are valid and necessary. The physics of the universe cause all things to work toward a stasis, for the end result to be virtually neutral. All things fluctuate from one side to the other, from left to right, from good to bad, up to down, backward to forward. There is a left side of your brain focusing on logic and there is the right side of the brain focusing on beauty.
Yin and Yang. We cannot have good in the universe without the complementary bad to even things out. Both sides are necessary. One cannot focus on one side of the equation all of the time and be satisfied. We need music and art just as much as we need mathematics and science.
Now I think I'll go get half a glass of water to drink until it is completely empty. At that point there is no question as to its contents.
OH
If you decide the glass is half empty, you are considered basically pessimistic because you see the dwindling supply and can look forward enough to expect that the glass will soon be completely empty.
If you decide the glass is half full, you are considered optimistic because you look at the contents as it is and consider how easily it would be to be completely full.
Both answers, of course, are correct. There is just a little bit of insight into the point of view of how you look at things in your life. Are you an idealist or a pragmatist? Bobby Kennedy once said, "Some people look at things as they are and say, why. I dream things that never were and say, why not." Bobby Kennedy was an idealist.
There are limits to what idealism can achieve. Have you heard the mantra that if you believe in something hard enough, strong enough, it will come true? Do you believe that is possible? Can faith in an event actually influence that event to come about?
I believe that it is possible but not likely. And I prefer to deal with most likely possibilities not most preferable. I think that makes me a pragmatist. Dreaming about things that never were and wondering why not is a good exercise but blood doesn't come from a turnip no matter how much you wish it were so.
So when I look at a glass I prefer to think about the practical aspects of the glass not the potential. There is half a glass. It really doesn't matter if it is half full or half empty, it is still half a glass.
Idealism vs Pragmatism. Dreams vs Reality. Creativity vs Logic. Both points of view are valid and necessary. The physics of the universe cause all things to work toward a stasis, for the end result to be virtually neutral. All things fluctuate from one side to the other, from left to right, from good to bad, up to down, backward to forward. There is a left side of your brain focusing on logic and there is the right side of the brain focusing on beauty.
Yin and Yang. We cannot have good in the universe without the complementary bad to even things out. Both sides are necessary. One cannot focus on one side of the equation all of the time and be satisfied. We need music and art just as much as we need mathematics and science.
Now I think I'll go get half a glass of water to drink until it is completely empty. At that point there is no question as to its contents.
OH
# posted by OH @ 8:47 AM 
