The Seduction of Pessimism

“For reasons I have never understood, people like to hear that the world is

going to hell.”

—Historian Deirdre McCloskey

Optimism is the best bet for most people because the world tends to get

better for most people most of the time.

But pessimism holds a special place in our hearts. Pessimism isn’t just

more

common than optimism. It also sounds smarter. It’s intellectually

captivating, and it’s paid more attention than optimism, which is often

viewed as being oblivious to risk.