I'm an optimist. I can usually see the positive side of things, even spinal cord injury (subsidised car, free tickets). According to a fascinating article in the Guardian, there is an optimism gene. The article also contains a joke:
"An optimist and a pessimist are shipwrecked, and wash up together on a desert island. The optimist decides that, though there's no food or fresh water where they are, it's worth exploring the other side of the island to see whether there's anything edible or potable there.
"Come on!" he says. "Where there's life, there's hope!"
"No there isn't," says the pessimist. "This is a desert island. There's nothing here. We might as well just lie down and die."
"Well, come on, it's worth a try, isn't it?"
"No it isn't. We're going to die."
So the optimist, not a mite discouraged, sets off by himself for the other side of the island, where he is eaten by a crocodile. And the pessimist starves to death."
I think I'd better watch out for crocodiles.
