“Optimism is seeing problems as challenges that are solvable; it’s having the confidence that there are things that we can do to make a difference. (Hannah Ritchie)

Urgent optimism, pragmatic optimism, realistic optimism, impatient optimism! I’ve heard many terms for this concept.

To make my case for why optimism is so essential for progress, we need to understand the positions of optimists versus pessimists.

The definition of pessimism is “a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.”

Optimism, on the other hand, is the “hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.”

People mistakenly see optimism as an excuse for inaction. They think that it’s pessimism that drives change, and optimism that keeps us where we are. The opposite is true.”

READ MORE at: https://bigthink.com/progress/pessimism-is-a-barrier-to-progress/