Do you agree with James that healthy-minded people (who he
claims lack empathy and tend to believe, rather childishly, that nothing in the
world is ever as bad as it seems) are at a disadvantage in the world as
compared to pessimists? To answer this question we must know what James
considered to be healthy-minded people. According to James, healthy-minded
people are the optimists of the world. He described such people as “vital,
enthusiastic, and exuberant” (Section 15-4a). But is it right to assume that
just because someone has this type of personality that they are naive about the
world and unable to empathize with others in difficult situations. In my opinion, these people have the advantage
in that they actually have a great understanding of what is important in life
and are the people you would want around in a difficult situation.
For example, say a family has been the victims of a house
fire. Everything they own is now gone and they have nowhere to live. A
pessimistic person would approach this as if the world was now over. They would
focus on the negative aspects of the situation and of all that was lost. However,
a healthy-minded person would help this family to focus on all the positives of
the situation, not because they are naive about the world, but because they
understand what is important in the world. They are able to empathize with the
loss that this family has suffered but are also able to recognize that the fact
that the family made it out unharmed is far more important than the
materialistic things that were lost. They can help the family focus on this
fact and help them to have a positive thought to give them some hope in what a
pessimistic person would consider a hopeless situation.
I feel that this example is an easy way to see how the optimist
actually holds the advantage over the pessimist in dealing with the problems of
the world. It is far better to be able to focus on the positives in a negative
situation than it is to focus on how horrible something is. In every situation,
no matter how dire, there is always some small positive thing to focus on. Having
the knowledge of what is truly important in life is what makes it so easy for
the optimist to find these positives. The last thing this family needs at a
time like this is someone who will only remind them of all that was lost.
Instead they would be better off with someone who will help them to focus on
the importance of the fact that the family made it out alive. Having a positive
spin on the situation does not mean that this person is unsympathetic to the family’s
loss, it just means they recognize that the safety of the family is more important
than material objects. So, in the end I wouldn’t say an optimist is at a disadvantage
compared to the pessimist or that they are naive about the world and therefore
unable to empathize with others. The way I see it, a healthy-minded person
always has hope and therefore, always holds the vantage point.
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