Glass half-full, half-empty....whatever!!!

[gnostic]

In another thread, "God is greater than reason", Mestemia said other people view him pessimistic person, using a common glass half-full/half-empty expression:

But then, I have been told that I am a glass half empty type person.

This was followed by interesting exchange between Mestemia and Father Heathen, which Lumnous also join in. The thread got a little sidetracked, but nevertheless it is interesting.

For those who don't understand this expression, it is quite simple.

Those who look at a glass filled half-way with water...or milk or even beer, and see -

• a glass as being half full is an optimistic person,
• or a glass as being half empty is a pessimistic person.

So my questions to you is:

Are you a person who see a glass being half full (optimistic) or half empty (pessimistic)?

Or do you not see yourself in this way?

 

[gnostic]

I think there is actually a 3rd option. Here is a scenario:

A glass of milk is on the coffee table. A child don't see the glass as either being half full or half empty. The glass being half full or half empty doesn't come into the child's head. The child only see milk, and that's all that matter to the child.

(Of course, you can substitute milk for beer. What's in the glass is not important.)

So a person who only see the content, without measuring, would probably fit the profile of a realist.

Now, Mestemia considered himself as a realist, but he put a different spin to the realist:

Well, I did tell the jerk that I am not a pessimist who sees the glass half empty.
Nor am I an optimist who sees the glass half full.
I am a realist who realizes that if I hang around to long, I will be the one who has to wash the glass.

You may have a different view of how realist sees things.

 

[Thesavorofpan]

I try to be optimistic, but everyone has their bad days.

 

[Boethiah]

The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[ChristineES]

My husband tells me I am too positive. He says I look too much at the good points of people. So I guess, by his definition, I must be glass half full person.

 

[Smoke]

Neither. Both. I'm cynical but happy.

 

[gnostic]

I don't think I can simply be define or fall under one or the other. I think I have trait of both, depending on the circumstances and timing. I can be opt or pessimistic. I can be realistic at other time, or like Smoke, cynical, at some other times.

So I find it hard to select something in the poll.

 

[gnostic]

Do you think a person who see glass half-full tends to have a more happy disposition than the other group?

 

[Armymike6174]

In response to the question, "Is the glass half-empty or half-full?"... my answer is simply that the glass is the wrong size.:thud::clap

 

[Armymike6174]

"The glass is twice as big as it needs to be...."
Yay for Boethiah! Here's one to you for thinking outside the box! *cheers* lol

 

[blackout]

If it's not my glass
and it's sitting out on my table/counter
for more than an hour,
I want to know WHO left it there
(whose it is)
IF they plan on finishing it,
and if they don't,
WHY they didn't dump it in the sink
and put it in the dishwasher.

 

[blackout]

If it is my glass it's most likely
either water or wine.
In which case I'm more interested
in how full the ice bag
and the bottle are.

 

[839311]

Sometimes it seems half full. Sometimes it seems half empty. Sometimes its just half a glass of water. Sometimes it seems like the water is an elixir - other times a poison. The glass might just be an illusion, though - and if thats true, then that changes a lot.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

People who are pessimistic tend to see me as a glass half-empty person - people who are optimistic tend to see me as a glass half-full person. I don't really look at it as half-full or half-empty - if it contains something I want to drink, I drink it - if it doesn't, I dump it out.

 

[Dezzie]

I would say that I am a little bit of both. I'll admit that I can have negativity... but yet sometimes I manage to be positive.

 

[YmirGF]

Though I am definitely a "glass is half full" kind of guy, I do tend to point out that there is no glass to begin with. If I have learned anything in my short life it is that ones attitude about their reality has a distinct affect on their experience of said reality. I don't subscribe to "positive thinking" drivel, but attitude play a huge part in how we face our day to day reality.

 

[Beaudreaux]

Well, I work in IT so I see a volume of water in a doubly redundant container.

 

[mhiggs]

I am an optomistic realist. I am optomistic when it is logical to be so. Usually, it does not help to be pessimistic even though it would be the easier choice. Of course, we all have our days where pessimism tends to take control

 

[gnostic]

Since I don't know what I am or how I view things, but I'd guess that I can be both, I decided to vote for "I don't know".

 

[Twilight Hue]

So my questions to you is:


Are you a person who see a glass being half full (optimistic) or half empty (pessimistic)?

Or do you not see yourself in this way?

Dunno. Perhaps there's a relationship of which involves a mind that is half empty and half full. -NM-