Wishful Thinking
How it confounds everyone and threatens humanity
We all do it. Some people more than others. Some people base their entire worldview upon wishful thinking, allowing it to take over their lives. Others see the harm in this and do everything they can to correct it. But no one is immune.
Let’s be clear about what we are dealing with here. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines wishful thinking as such:
The attribution of reality to what one wishes to be true or the tenuous justification of what one wants to believe.
Wikipedia cuts right to the heart of the matter:
Wishful thinking is the formation of beliefs based on what might be pleasing to imagine, rather than on evidence, rationality, or reality.
Either way, it’s not good.
Is the glass half empty or half full? Realistically it’s both, but that’s not very satisfying. This question is often posed to sort out the optimists and pessimists among us. Pessimists, of course, focus on the half that is not there, while the optimists focus on what’s there.
Wishful thinking imagines the glass filled to the top and dreams up ways to make that happen. Some people call this progress.
