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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Cynicism vs. Optimism: Reality vs. Fantasy?
It has come to my attention recently...contrary to what I previously led myself to believe, I am very, very, VERY optimistic. On the surface, it may seem like I have this darker outlook on everything, but with a lot of introspection, I have discovered that the way I see things ais ALOT brighter than I realized.
Which is, as everything else in this world, a gift and a curse.
(Damn, I hate how true that saying is...)
This is how I came to realize this: I was watching this video on the internet about a documentary this girl made. Long story short, she re-conducted the experiment performed in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. The experiment was called the "Doll Experiment", and they would place 2 dolls, a white doll and a black doll, in front of a child, and ask them which one they thought was better, prettier, etc. Back when the experiment was performed...the children overwhelmingly said the white doll was better. This led to the decision that segregation was unconstitutional. That was more than 50 years ago.
I have amazing faith in my people. I think that we have come an amazingly long way. And I really really believe that we can over come anything, and have overcome a lot....
Here's where the naivity of optimism kicks in.
The results of this girls experiment.....went exactly the same way. Right down to a T. I was stunned....literally shocked by the results. I couldn't believe that after over a half a century later....nothing's changed. I told this to 2 people, who intellect I respect...GREATLY, and they both responded to it the exact same way...like VERBATIM:
"It doesn't surprise me when things stay the same. I'm only surprised when they change."
I didn't know what to say... They were right. When I look back on all the knowledge I have attained in my 18 years of life...I have only been caught off guard when I learn something contrary to what I already knew. That is...when something's different.
I mean, cynicism.....depresses me. Expecting everything to be bad doesn't appeal to me.
But these are the people, the cynics, who tend to always be right; the ones who are never dissappointed with the outcome of anything.
They don't have to feel as terrible as I do now...
-Deuces
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