Replies to post #4606 on A.I.M. Users Bulletin Board (AIMUSERS)

[Rien]

It is entirely possible to be optimistic AND realistic

Thanks Jennie!


Best,
Rien.

[RoboAIMer]

Jennie --

I believe what you are talking about, is not what I am talking about. We have not established a communication link. I accept the responsibility for being unclear. I'm not talking about emotions or inborn predispositions. Maybe I should be, but I don't think so, and am not. I am attempting to make an entirely different point. In the realm that I am talking about, it is not possible to BE an optimist AND a realist at the same time. It is is also not possible to BE a pessimist AND and a realist at the same time. Just to complete the set, it is also not possible to BE an optimist AND a pessimist at the same time. The three orientations are mutually exclusive at a point in time on an issue. (Schizophrenics, aside). :-)

My answer to your haiku is, "I feel so gloomy", IS reality, realistic and probably true. The thought that you should feel differently than you do, is also a REAL THOUGHT and an opinion and a judgement, which may or may not accurately reflect reality. Which is more realistic? It depends on you.

Respectfully,

Robo

[Conrad]

Hi Jennie,

Your comment about the different things people are(or is it something they have?) was the first sensible thing I read today, and it is already 5:30 PM here in Holland. You hit me where it hurts because it hit home(After a day of skiing my hurting body feels good because I realise then that every part of it belongs to me!). Your words made me feel what I know I am(or have). Once in a while I just forget it for a moment. Thanks for waking me up.

I am a realist. An optimistic realist one day, a pessimistic one the next. And then I am an emotional pessimist, or depending on circumstances, an utterly rational calculating computer, or an affectionate romantic, but that part of me is getting a bit rusty. I think I need to practice a bit more.

I am so realistic that I know that we can't grasp onto reality even if it does exist. Every human being tries to get hold of it, yet none of us manage it. Because I am all these things you mentioned, and the few I figured out myself, and a few more, all at the same moment, most people can't deal with me easily. They can't figure out that a rational computer-mind can cry the next day and be a romantic optimist a little later, or a raving lunatic if it suits my purpose. They think I am a funny shaped peg for which they can't fine any hole to put me in. The fact that they want to put me in a hole in the first place is a sad thing as they do not realise that people do not belong in holes any more than a monkey belongs in cage(a hole), I think, but the funny thing is that if there is no hole to be found that I can fit into, they tell me it's my fault and that I need to change! People around me tend to insist that I should fit into an empty hole they picked out for me.

Too bad that so many people already sit in a hole of some sort or other. Or maybe it is just as well that they do?




Conrad