I am not an “optimist”.

Well, not exactly. Though I sing the praises of progress on @rootsofprogress, and though I paint a bold vision for the future, I have hesitated to apply that term to myself.

I have said that I am “fundamentally” optimistic, or a “paranoid optimist”; or I have reached for constructions like “short-term pessimist, long-term optimist”.

But none of these are quite right. https://twitter.com/jasoncrawford/status/1263525673554939906

In my discussion with @_TamaraWinter and @TrevMcKendrick on optimism, the three of us converged on a formulation that I think resolves the paradox: descriptive vs. prescriptive optimism.

Descriptive optimism is the expectation that good things will happen, that an outcome will be positive. It is a belief about the world.

Prescriptive optimism is the decision to work to make good outcomes happen. Whether cheerful or grim, it is a commitment to action and effort.

Descriptive optimism, for me, is highly contextual. I am mildly optimistic about covid; fairly pessimistic about politics.

Prescriptive optimism is deeply philosophical: a belief about the nature of life, intelligence & agency. It is a moral attitude, a way of life.

Descriptive optimism is determined by the external facts, but prescriptive optimism is an internal choice.

Descriptive optimism on its own can lead to complacency, Panglossianism, and other cavalier attitudes—progress as coasting.

Prescriptive optimism calls for boldness, courage, and vigorous effort.

When the two are combined, they call for expansive, ambitious plans.

When prescriptive optimism is combined with descriptive *pessimism*, they together call for grit, determination, and fighting spirit.

The French writer and Nobel laureate Romain Rolland captured it in a passage later echoed by the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, when he wrote of “pessimism of the intelligence, which penetrates every illusion, and optimism of the will.”

https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft538nb2x9&chunk.id=d0e6265&toc.id=&brand=ucpress

This has been distilled to a motto: “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”.

I am a pessimist or optimist of the intellect according to facts on the ground, but I am ever an optimist of the will.

This thread as a blog post: https://rootsofprogress.org/descriptive-vs-prescriptive-optimism