I base things on evidence. Sometimes that evidence points into the low probability of success or the high probability into something that is going to happen that is unfavorable. I don't do things based upon "hope" I do them based upon evidence.

So yes, I'm a realist. I go based upon what the cards are pointing to.

I also disagree with your first point. In my experience just as many optimistic people will stand to their point as pessimistic. I have a brother in law who can't see the bad in anything even if it's laid out to him. Both pessimism and optimism have a level of accepted ignorance and both have a level of stubbornness.

In fact a lot of your points could be applied to optimism as well...

True.  There's nothing wrong with being optimistic, it doesn't mean you're blind to reality, you're just hopeful and are willing to try your best with a smile.

I base things on evidence. Sometimes that evidence points into the low probability of success or the high probability into something that is going to happen that is unfavorable. I don't do things based upon "hope" I do them based upon evidence.

 

So yes, I'm a realist. I go based upon what the cards are pointing to.

 

I also disagree with your first point. In my experience just as many optimistic people will stand to their point as pessimistic. I have a brother in law who can't see the bad in anything even if it's laid out to him. Both pessimism and optimism have a level of accepted ignorance and both have a level of stubbornness.

 

In fact a lot of your points could be applied to optimism as well...

That was something I already noted, but I felt like it much more evident on the pessimistic side than the optimistic one, mostly because there are much more pessimists than the latter, and it tends to turn up more often in the younger generation.

It's probably me, though; I tend to see far more pessimists, and probably the tiring side of it. It just gets annoying when people use pessimism, call it "realism", and plaster themselves as self-righteous, and you somehow have to be "smarter" to understand their perspective. It's just insulting.

I know when I'm overly pessimistic it brings out my worst traits.

That was something I already noted, but I felt like it much more evident on the pessimistic side than the optimistic one, mostly because there are much more pessimists than the latter, and it tends to turn up more often in the younger generation.

 

It's probably me, though; I tend to see far more pessimists, and probably the tiring side of it. It just gets annoying when people use pessimism, call it "realism", and plaster themselves as self-righteous, and you somehow have to be "smarter" to understand their perspective. It's just insulting.

No offense but the same can be said about all of your reasoning:

• For 10, optimism a lot of the time is being blindly hopeful when history tells us we should be skeptical about something. It's like how people keep buying Bethesda games on consoles assuming they will eventually not make them buggy, long loading or poor quality but are fooled every time. If I stick my hand in and get bit three times, I should be skeptical about sticking it in the 4th time.
• For 9, optimism a lot of the time comes out of being emotional too. Like people who love Nintendo love them so much they will deny any and all faults they have.
• For 8, optimism can push people away too. I for one find it annoying to be around someone who is so overly optimistic to the point of absurdity and ignoring what history taught them. My brother in law is so optimistic about stuff and a good chunk of the time it bites him in the ass. On top of that optimism is used to dismiss criticisms that may be valid. How many times have I seen someone say I'm just being a negative nancy for pointing out a very valid criticism? A lot. So many people tell me to just "enjoy it for what it is" and to ignore flaws. Optimism can be equally annoying.
• For 7, a lot of optimists close their minds to the idea that something could suck to the point of flat out denial. Look at Nintendo fans.
• For 6, many optimists do the same thing...
• For 5, optimism can be just as damaging as it's often used as an excuse to never try and execute change. Instead just love everything the exact way it is and ignore something failing. Like I said, look at Nintendo fans. They are content with the Wii U only selling 13 million units even though it's bringing Nintendo down as a business.
• For 4, optimism has become a way to dismiss complaints.
• For 3, that's probably the only one I will give you. I've never had an optimists try to act like he was smarter than me for being optimistic, but I HAVE had many of them tell me I'm stupid for not being optimistic.
• For 2, people put people down for not being optimistic too. "Well you're just a negative nancy" or "well you're just trying not to like it!"
• For 1, optimism tries to claim to be realistic as well. :\

Literally all the things you hate about pessimism can be applied to optimism.

Much of my pessimism is reserved for politics and the common folk but when it comes to technological progress, that's where I am optimistic -- essentially topics that will bore you to death. I am in favor of phasing out fossil fuel to have it replaced with an arsenal of hydro-electricity, biomass, nuclear, geothermal, wave, wind and solar with energy storage to cover for the intermittency issues. The good news is that there is an increasingly attractive business case for wind, solar and storage and because of that, the opinions of the ignorant masses are largely (but not completely -- but if only) irrelevant. Most people cannot be bothered to think about things too much, especially when it's something far removed from their vision. Instead they would prefer bite-sized pieces of info -- regardless of their actual validity -- that fit snugly into their web of "facts". Though I suppose if I can just wave banknotes in front of people's faces to get them to understand why something is in their best interest or use national security as a talking point then I suppose that could be sufficient as it bypasses the issue climate change -- you know, that piece of science people reject because some pundit said so.

No offense but the same can be said about all of your reasoning: 

(Sorry for not responding earlier, I don't always notice posts.)

I'm not completely advocating for blind optimism either but you make fair points and indeed some things that could be said about pessimism can be said about optimism. It's just my glaring bias; I see much more pessimists than optimists where I am from...except that pessimism isn't coming from actually being poor, depressed, abused, or some other real problem but is deliberately being used to justify their own ideas and morals because "Boohoo! Nobody understands me!" A few "optimists" do that as well (just look at Christian fundementalists who preach for bigotry, homophobia, and xenophobia behind the mask of optimism), but more recently people online like to play the "depressed, poor, edgy, special snowflake university student" card to push their agendas.

It almost feels like seeing black and red OCs coming to life. I've met people who deliberately deny evidence, let alone compromise through the mask of pessimism and sad life stories. That should have been something I added: Pessimism and optimism has been far too overused to justify ideological and "moralistic" behavior.

That's why I had decided to stop posting on the Orlando shooting topic altogether. Three pages in and rather than people calmly talking out on how to deal with Muslim extremists it became a fire pit of deciding whether "Islamophobia is racist". Only a few like Twiggy actually debated in a civilized manner. Debate should be a time where opposing views come together and people talk it out, not people throwing around moralistic crap and plastering labels onto people.