Psychology of pessimism

[Anonymous No.15403743]

Has there ever been a scientific explanation regarding why some people are innately optimistic and some pessimistic? The latter see evil as a fundamental force in the universe and they're always in pain and thinking about death and the former just ignore evil and live their lives like healthy individuals.

[Anonymous No.15404394]

I've wondered that myself. Plenty of people display high intellect but are not pessimistic. It may be that what occurs to the pessimist is more an accident of future-modeling. Even if you're high iq, you may have some sort of insulating value or a general ignorance of the "bigger picture."

Disease, death, inherent unfairness can "live" in the conceptual part of the brain relatively undisturbed. It may just be that pessimists have shifted those things into a sense and dread of the "real."
Some people keep their unfortunates in possibility space perhaps due to cultural norms. Pessimists seem to understand that those possibilities are inevitable realities by abandoning those same norms. Trauma may play a role.

https://youtu.be/81zQr-zr98k