The Worldview Continuum

See the world as it is, not how you want or fear it to be

Lately, I have been running into people who either insist that the world is going to hell, or that known bad actors “won’t really do xyz bad thing” because “deep down they care”.

Neither of these are correct.

Think of worldview as a spectrum. It looks something like this:

One end of the spectrum is unrealistic when it sees the world as excessively good, and the other end is unrealistic because it sees the world as excessively bad.

Pessimism protects people from despair by predicting it constantly, so there is never surprise disappointment. It leans towards cynical.

Blithe optimism insulates people from fear and dread by suppressing gritty aspects of reality. It leans towards naive idealism.

Part of growing up is learning to hold both things true at the same time: there is incredible goodness, and incredible harm in the world, at the same time, all the time.

If you see the world as you want it to be, not as it is, you will take wrong steps, and fall needlessly.

If you see the world as you fear it to be, rather than as it is, you will not take many steps at all, and won’t go very far.

The trick is finding your natural place in the middle - knowing that there are bad actors in the world, and yet, believing there is a point in hoping for a better world, anyway.

It will not bring bad things upon you to admit that bad things could exist; you will not jinx yourself. And you will not be unprepared for bad things happening, if you admit to yourself that good things are possible.