
Ask HN: What currently makes you optimistic? - alltakendamned
We&#x27;re currently surrounded by pessimistic news, from political and economical instability in the world, polarisation and the rise of extremism through climate change and raising inequality.<p>Despite all this, what are currently the things you experience, participate in or know of that keeps you feeling optimistic ?
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burfog
Pessimistic news is to keep your eyeballs glued to the screen. It's also an
attempt to force a political outcome by manipulating you. Ignore it. Step
away. Life is actually quite good now.

Instability isn't always bad. It's how we put aside feudalism.

Climate change could make the Northwest Passage viable and open up a lot of
valuable land.

Inequality has been going down. This is generally true around the world, and
has been for decades. More recently, it is true within the USA:
[http://archive.is/lRxSi](http://archive.is/lRxSi)

~~~
cylinder
You state inequality goes down then you show a link about wage increases the
last two years. This doesn't address inequality and inequality is usually a
wealth issue, not income, and not only over the last two years.

~~~
burfog
Usually we vaguely mean both wealth and income when we speak of inequality,
but in any case they are convertible. The high-wealth people aren't living on
income. They are living on investments, which have taken a hit from the
increased wages.

I specifically said "More recently" regarding the USA, so why object to it
being over two years? Two years is recent. Things have gotten dramatically
better for the less-well-off people over the past two years. This is something
to be optimistic about.

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pixelperfect
I recently read David Deutsch's book _Beginning of Infinity_ , and it
drastically increased my level of optimism. Summarizing it wouldn't do it
justice, but I highly recommend reading it.

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yesenadam
_We 're currently surrounded by pessimistic news_

There's your problem. It is a choice---to be a sucker for the fear endlessly
pumped out by most of the news media, or to be tuned into better things.

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sethammons
I'm reminded of a couple of things.

"You don't hire people and motivate them, you hire motivated people" \-- Peter
Drucker

"You choose to be happy" \-- a bunch of old people

The first quote applies to extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. And I think it
also can relate to optimism and pessimism. If you are looking for extrinsic
sources to make you optimistic, then it will be fleeting. Find the optimism
and the belief that the future can be better than the now in yourself.

The second quote, I don't recall where I read it. But the tl;dr was that
someone went around and asked a bunch of old folks the secret to being happy.
The majority response? You choose it. It explains why you can find happy
people in poverty or miserable people bathed in riches. I think the same
applies to feeling optimistic: it is a choice.

Knowing that I can be happier than I am now (even though I consider myself
doing pretty good in that department) gives me reason to be optimistic and to
strive for that. There are things I want to see and experience. There is more
to life than I have yet to experience. I also know that my world could come
crashing down; but I've been low before, and I can do it again, and again,
seek being better than I might find myself.

All the things that news that you find yourself surrounded by: One, know that
it is _designed_ to rope you in and invoke a negative reaction. Two, can you
do something about it? If so, and it is meaningful to you, then do your part
to improve it. If not, then don't. No need to have the world pull you down.
Besides, there is always political/economic instability, polarization, and
extremism. Climate change might doom us all; it might not. World poverty is
diminishing and standards of living are leaping higher every generation. I
think Stephen Fry did a neat little video a while back (can't find it) that
showed the different countries of the world and their economic condition over
the last couple hundred years: it all got better.

There will always be negative things. Sadness, loss, disparity, suffering, and
outright evil. People have endured it, survived, and continue to lead happy
lives. I think that is amazing, and helps me be optimistic.

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Japhy_Ryder
How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan. I think it will be revealed to be
one of the most important books of our time.

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agiri
Steven Pinker's book Enlightenment Now

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abledon
sadhguru on youtube

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mars4rp
Bernie!

