How I Roll

​My dear friend at the coffee shop shook his head with a laugh and then gave me the gift of a title that I now hold very dear. He said in response to yet another discussion where I held strong to the positive outlook, “You know, you’re an unrepentant optimist.” I let it sink in, then I slowly nodded with a grin.
It doesn’t really matter the topic, I always argue for a positive outcome. It feels better to me. I often wonder why so many people are so pessimistic. It seems to me like most people want to believe that the sky will fall. Almost every generation throughout history has believed the apocalypse is imminent. Just in the last century, we had WW1, then the Great Depression, then WW2, then the hole in the ozone layer, then the silly computer thing Y2K, where everyone believe our computers would all crash because they hadn’t been programmed to handle a four digit year. I’m sure an average historian could find a handful of additional reasons people in the 20th century believe the end of the world was nigh. But the sky hasn’t fallen.
I like logic. All of my ideas are, as much as possible, founded in sound logic. I have a BA in Philosophy from a pretty damn good university, and logic is one of the basic skills that any decent philosopher must have a strong grasp upon. If you’re idea doesn’t look like A+B=C then you might as well hang up your spurs and head to a seat in the audience.
In this essay series, my goal is share my unrepentant optimism about all sorts of things from current events to long-term visions of our future as Earthlings. So if you need a boost about a topic that you’re feeling dire about, where pessimism has caused frowny corners at the edges of your smile, then hit me up and allow me to lift your spirits.

To a beautiful future!

​John-Paul Goorjian