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The case for redefining optimism as less of a goody-goody, glass-half-full approach to self delusion, and more of a creative lens rooted in problem-solving, comfort with uncertainty, and defiance.
Citation preview
I Won’t Do What
You Tell MeRebranding Optimism
'
Hope!Positivity!
Bright sides!
Silver linings!
Happiness!
Hope!Positivity!
Bright sides!
Silver linings!
Happiness!
Hunter S. Thompson
Pussy Riot
Henry Rollins
M.I.A.
Tupac Shakur
Johnny Cash
3 Ingredients:
There is a traditional optimistic story that runs as follows. Our hero is a prisoner who has been sentenced to death by a tyrannical king, but gains a reprieve by promising to teach the king's favourite horse to talk within a year. That night, a fellow prisoner asks what possessed him to make such a bargain. He replies, 'A lot can happen in a year. The horse might die. The king might die. I might die. Or the horse might talk!' The prisoner understands that, while his immediate problems have to do with prison bars and the king and his horse, ultimately the evil he faces is caused by insufficient knowledge. That makes him an optimist. He knows that, if progress is to be made, some of the opportunities and some of the discoveries will be inconceivable in advance. Progress cannot take place at all unless someone is open to, and prepares for, those inconceivable possibilities.The prisoner may or may not discover a way of teaching the horse to talk. But he may discover something else. He may persuade the king to repeal the law that he had broken; he may learn a convincing conjuring trick in which the horse would seem to talk; he may escape; he may think of an achievable task that would please the king even more than making the horse talk. The list is infinite. Even if every such possibility is unlikely, it takes only one of them to be realized for the whole problem to be solved. But if our prisoner is going to escape by creating a new idea, he cannot possibly know that idea today, and therefore he cannot let the assumption that it will never exist condition his planning.”——David Deutsche, physicist“Progress cannot take place at all
unless someone is open to, and
prepares for, those inconceivable
possibilities.
[Several things dovetailed in my mind, & at once it struck me, what
quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature &
which Shakespeare possessed so enormously. I mean Negative
Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties,
Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.
Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude
caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of
remaining content with half knowledge. This pursued through
Volumes would perhaps take us no further than this, that with a great
poet the sense of Beauty overcomes every other consideration, or
rather obliterates all consideration. – —John Keats, poet“Negative Capability... that is, when
man is capable of being in
uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts,
without any irritable reaching after
fact & reason.
K i l l i ng in the name o f
Some o f t hose tha t work fo rces , a re the same tha t bu rn c rosses
K i l l i ng in the name o f
And now you do what they to ld ya
Those who d ied a re ju s t i fi ed , fo r wear ing the badge , they ' re the chosen wh i tes
You jus t i fy those tha t d ied by wear ing the badge , t hey ' re the chosen wh i tes
Those who d ied a re ju s t i fi ed , fo r wear ing the badge , they ' re the chosen wh i tes
You jus t i fy those tha t d ied by wear ing the badge , t hey ' re the chosen wh i tes
Some o f t hose tha t work fo rces , a re the same tha t bu rn c rosses
K i l l i ng in the name o f
And now you do what they to ld ya
And now you do what they to ld ya , now you ' re under con t ro l
Those who d ied a re ju s t i fi ed , fo r wear ing the badge , they ' re the chosen wh i tes
You jus t i fy those tha t d ied by wear ing the badge , t hey ' re the chosen wh i tes
Those who d ied a re ju s t i fi ed , fo r wear ing the badge , they ' re the chosen wh i tes
You jus t i fy those tha t d ied by wear ing the badge , t hey ' re the chosen wh i tes
Come on !
F* * * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
F** * you , I won ' t do what you te l l me
—Rage Against The Machine, band
“F*** you, I won‘t do what you tell
me.!
Understanding problems.
Comfort with uncertainty.
Defiance.
Understanding problems.
Comfort with uncertainty.
Defiance.
“"We can’t possibly know..."
Understanding problems.
Comfort with uncertainty.
Defiance.
“"We can’t possibly know..."
““"and I’m fine with that..."
Understanding problems.
Comfort with uncertainty.
Defiance.
“““"so f*** you, I’m trying
anyway."
“"We can’t possibly know..."
““"and I’m fine with that..."
Understanding problems.
Comfort with uncertainty.
Defiance.
“““"so f*** you, I’m trying
anyway."
“"We can’t possibly know..."
““"and I’m fine with that..."
I Won’t Do What
You Tell MeRebranding Optimism
'