If I were given a glass that was filled half-way to the top, I'd
probably describe it as half-empty. I'd then also note that
it's half-full. I'd bring up to discussion whether filling it
would actually make the drink better, or if it would suffice to take it
down to the dregs from the half-empty point. I'd ask whether the glass
should be more than half-empty. If it should, then would 3/4 full be
enough? Full to the top? Do we want it overflowing – that just seems
wasteful!
What if the glass is half-empty, but the stuff inside it is
poisonous? What if it's coffee, and it's half empty now so someone can
put steamed milk on it, and maybe a shot of syrup? What if it's a shot
of Bacardi 151, and you probably shouldn't fill the glass up all the
way?
Few issues faced in real-life are "half-empty/half-full" questions. If someone hands you a cup of whatever,
and we'll assume that it's best for the cup to be full, then one would
have to be either incredibly serene or incredibly desperate to be perfectly content with
one-half when fullness is well within reason.
Furthermore, the cup's usually 1/4 full, or 7/8 full, or 3/5 empty,
etc. Different circumstances call for different responses. I can see
someone smiling approvingly at a glass that's mostly full, save maybe
for some room on top. 5/6 full would be great to most people. Shoot!
I'd probably be pretty content with 2/3 or 3/5. One-half I can deal
with, but I'll still be thinking that it wouldn't hurt someone out
there to meet me half way.
And why can't I see why something as both half-empty and half-full? These are both true when looked at from different viewpoints. I want to
see this world for what it really is. We don't exist in a place where half-full describes most things. I refuse to get
excited about 1/8 when I know the other 7/8 should be there.
This seems
to be the crime of which pessimists are guilty of in the perennial
optimist's mind. I can understand being upset with a pessimist griping
about a 7/8 empty cup if they've just waded through the desert – but
the truth is, we aren't in a desert. 7/8 is capable in most cases, and there's
usually someone or something in particular keeping most of us from
getting it. When this is the case, and you don't speak up, you're not an
optimist; you're a fool. Most people, from fear of retribution, or for
the sake of staving off despair, can be cajoled into such foolishness.
I think the reasons for a pessimist's misery not only lies in this foolishness that says "half-full" is a-okay, but also because completely full is within our grasp, and each of us does some little thing to piss away our chances of getting there. Yet, if we all keep pissing away our chances at a full glass, one is behooved to wonder why pessimists don't get more content with that half-full thing? Why shouldn't we become optimists, happy that we have as much as we do, not frustrating ourselves with that perfection that will never come? Well, I guess that might be the difference between pessimism and cynicism. Under these circumstances, I'd dare say that optimism and cynicism are difficult to separate.
An undying hope can often be the root of a pessimist's bitterness. The problem here is making sure that half-empty glass of water doesn't turn into a half-empty glass of gall and wormwood.
