Optimism, Pessimism and Realism

There are basically just three ways to think or see the things. The first approach is optimistic, the second is pessimistic and the last is the realistic.

A pessimist is the one that always see the things in the negative shades, gathers all the info that are negative and generally has a negative outlook about life as a whole. On the other hand, an optimist is the person who sees the world in rose-tinted spectacles, sees only positive in all the things and most of the times avoids negatives. A realist is the person who sees the things as they are.

Pessimism is a horrible way to exist. Being pessimist, we end up being like rag pickers. Optimism is definitely better than pessimism and it is encouraged by many. Many people sermon to embrace optimism. Optimism can mend many a situations according to our requirement and positive outlook towards life enhances life, no doubt.

 But realism is always better than optimism or pessimism any day because realism is the way in which we see the things as they are without sabotaging our intelligence with some petty pre-conceived notions. Pre-conceived notion, good or bad will never let to see us the things as they are, so we usually miss out the truth ascribing to some philosophies. If we have to act on anything or have to understand anything completely, we should be able to see the things as they are. Else, we miss out many simple but great things in life.

Opinions and Facts

Opinions and facts are two different things. They can be poles apart or very near to each other. The nearer they are, the better it is. An opinion many a times is nothing but a distorted fact. A fact incorrectly put or understood becomes an opinion.

            People form opinion about certain things and become attached to it and over a course of time they will not be able to see the fact at all. They profess their opinions as facts. In their thinking, they would have made opinions as facts. So, for them their opinions have become facts.

            Opinions are such useless things that one should not care for them at all. Because opinions can be a million but the fact can only be one. Any interpretation would fall short of the fact. But we have formed castles of opinions in us that they have become more important and dear than people around us. So in my opinion, all opinions should be shunned including this one!!

Function of None..

I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of functions in mathematics because it can be applied to our lives easily. To explain functions very simply,

                        Y=f(x1, x2, x3…..)

As per my understanding, here the value of Y is dependent on all the variations of x i.e. if the value of anyone among x1, x2, x3…changes then invariably the value of Y changes. Y is the dependent variable, in other words.

            Now, apply the same to our lives. Consider our happiness as Y, and all the factors which make us happy as the variables x1,x2 and so on. In our lives, the R.H.S is too long i.e. our happiness is dependent on too many factors. The intelligent man will always keep the RHS short. Probably, the most intelligent man won’t have any RHS at all i.e. to say that his happiness is not at all dependent on anything external. By his own nature, he’s able to remain happy, no matter what the external situation is. To such a person, I bow down. Mathematically speaking, he’s a function of none. All of us should reach that stage. The sooner we reach, the better it is.

My Books Review: Mar '11

1) The Stranger: This novel is written by Nobel Prize winning writer Albert Camus. The story is of a person who has murdered and facing death penalty. The whole story is narrated by the person himself. It explores the condition of the person who is emotionless, dispassionate and an aberration from the normal lot. The story doesn’t excite for the people who have watched the movie Shawshank Redemption. There, everything is more vivid. I had seen the movie. So, this book felt nothing great.

 

2) Moonwalk: Autobiography of the best entertainer of our times Michael Jackson is a wonderful read, especially if you are a fan of him. It talks about his personal and professional life (probably in his case, the demarcation line was very thin!), his humble beginnings from his group Jacksons 5, his stay in Motown, his versatility, the albums: off the wall, thriller, bad, nurturing of his talents by many especially Quincy Jones, his convictions and believes, his love for children and mankind as a whole and lot more.

                        Being a star right from a tender age is a difficult thing, he says fame comes with a price and it is heavy. There will be no privacy left. His experiences with the press, the distorted image that they always portrayed always troubled him. The background and the stories behind many of his songs like beat it, Billie jean, don’t stop till you get enough, she’s out of my life are discussed. As I am his die-hard fan, I enjoyed thoroughly reading this book with his own songs being played in the system!!