As someone who's basically pretty optimistic, I often find it hard to understand pessimists. This helps. It's an excerpt from a June 2009 Atlantic Monthly article by Joshua Wolf Shenk entitled "What Makes Us Happy?"
"For 30 years, Denmark has topped international happiness surveys. But Danes are hardly a sanguine bunch. Ask an American how it’s going, and you will usually hear 'Really good.' Ask a Dane, and you will hear 'Det kunne være værre (It could be worse).' 'Danes have consistently low (and indubitably realistic) expectations for the year to come,' a team of Danish scholars concluded. 'Year after year they are pleasantly surprised to find that not everything is getting more rotten in the state of Denmark.'”
1 comment:
Another measure -- A pessimist is happy when things turn out bad, just as expected. An optimist is unhappy if things do not turn out as expected. I don't know why I know that. I just do. Wishing a Happy Fatjher's Day to all the Dads that get neckties, Pop
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