A thought-provoking tweet from the great @naval: 

“Optimists thrive but pessimists survive.”

But do they really? Maybe it depends on the situation or context. During peacetime, optimists thrive because real life-threatening dangers are rare. But during chaos and crisis (like war for example), pessimists survive yes, because taking bold chances might really kill you.

Maybe it also depends on timeframe. When viewed over long term, optimists benefit more because the more opportunities you attempt, the more likely you hit it big. Pessimists, who never try, never win. But when your timeframe is short, pessimists hold out.

Maybe it doesn’t have to be a zero sum game, a dichotomy. We need both optimism and pessimism when living life and dealing with situations or problems. Hoping for the best; having dreams and aspirations; looking forward to better days to come, being optimistic in vision, while preparing for the worst; making Plan Bs and Cs, being pessimistic in execution, will serve us much better than being fixated on just one side of the coin.

Maybe it also depends on the stakes, how much or how little you have to lose at that moment. Nobody starts off from the same starting point. Some has more responsibilities like kids and parents to care for. Others are single, fresh out of college, zero commitments. Optimists try to win big but might lose big too, while pessimists only stumble.

Maybe it’s also about diversity, how we all have different roles and gifts to the world. Diversity makes for a more resilient ecosystem than homogeneity. In any flourishing human ecosystem, you need the builders, the adventurers, the explorers, inventors, but you need also the administrators, guardians, care-takers, accountants, repairman to prevent the stuff being built from falling apart.

Then, one might feel compelled to ask: What about the realist? ?