Caveat Emptor

Is going to an 11/10 too much for optimism? It could be.

Allow me take off these rose-colored glasses for a moment.

For nearly a week, I have been super gung-ho about optimism. It’s been exhausting.

Let’s step back and read the terms and conditions. A decidedly unoptimistic thing to do if you ask me.

Optimism can be a powerful tool. But optimism bias exists and it gets people into trouble.

Optimism bias can lead to bad results due to improper assessment of risk. Remember that housing bubble that caused a bunch of banks to go belly up and Michael Lewis to write a book about it? Yeah. About that.

In that same sense, it can lead to overestimation of our own skills and abilities. We fall into complacency and fail to properly prepare when opportunities arise.

Like it or not, all the cheery thoughts and positive affirmations in the world won’t do the work required to bring us closer to our ideal states.

Because hope is not a good strategy.

But look on the bright side, optimistic miscalculations have also been observed in many animals in nature. And such mishaps affect humans across age, gender, race and nationality.

It’s simply part of our shared nature to think things are going to work out for the better, whether they ultimately do or not. It is instinctual for us.

And in a way that’s kind of the most beautiful thing of all.

Dang it. There I go again. Looking on the sunny side as usual.