This is a well-known proposition. Its full formulation goes like this: "The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, and the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." "From former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In fact, Churchill's statement comes from the earlier theory of the so-called half-glass of water. It is said that at the beginning of the 20th century, the British industrialist and banker Josia Stamp used the principle of "half a glass of water" in a speech in 1935, saying that the same half glass of water, optimists see that the glass is half full, and pessimists see that it is half empty, so that it tends to be perfected.
For this proposition, it is understandable that many people choose to be optimistic with wishful thinking, after all, it is not far from success. It can help us to better cope with challenges and difficulties, which is indispensable for both self-confidence and team morale. But it would be unwise and even harmful to give up, or even to oppose pessimists, because of this. The so-called pessimists, they see more problems and difficulties, they may be frightened by them, and they are also more likely to find more ways to solve problems and eventually overcome difficulties. And this is often overlooked by optimists.
In this regard, Lao Tzu's concept of blessing and misfortune seems to be more convincing. He believes that good and bad exist objectively, and there is no need to dwell on who is right and who is wrong. There is no natural antagonistic gulf between them, they are interdependent, and under certain conditions, they can even be transformed into each other. Moreover, from different perspectives, the original blessing may be a curse, and the original disaster may also be a blessing.
Against the backdrop of many international institutions, such as the OECD and the International Monetary Organization, which are not optimistic about the prospects for global economic development this year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore recently said that the risk of a sharp recession caused by financial vulnerabilities has receded. According to Bloomberg's analysis, this judgment means that "the global economy is like a half-filled cup." And commented that it is like a beacon of hope.
This seems to give hope to both the so-called optimists and the pessimists. Because, at the end of the day, the ultimate deciding factor is action. As George Bernard Shaw said, "Both optimists and pessimists can contribute to society." The optimists invented the airplane, the pessimists invented the parachute. I agree with his former sentence, and although the latter sentence is true, I can only say that it is an optimistic pessimistic statement. Or Lao Tzu's theory of blessing and misfortune is more profound.