I used to be, and still am to a large extent, a pessimist. Over the years pessimism affected my worldview and guided my actions. In the past few years though, I've changed quite a bit toward optimism. But it was not until recently I start to reflect on those changes, absorb alternative opinions, and philosophize on the nuances of being pessimistic about different things.

Like many people frustrated by how history repeats itself again and again, I also believed that humanity is doomed. There are simply too many challenges to solve while we can't help hurting each other. My mind started to change after I listened to Naval's podcast about The Beginning of Infinity (book by David Deutsch). One main theme is that knowledge is infinite, humans are unique in our capability to understand things, and how pessimism is an easy trap to fall into when considering where the future of humanity holds:

On another front, I'm what some rightfully call a productivity geek. I use everything from Getting Things Done systems to Time Management techniques to work toward achieving personal goals. Because I fear that I won't be able to succeed otherwise, as anything could go wrong. The other day I read The Imperfectionist: It's worse than you think, which made me think that maybe I'm not pessimistic enough:

Perhaps it's time to rethink long and hard.