Optimism is the belief that life is worth living, its an attitude or belief that the outcome or in general will be positive and desirable. The word optimist originates from the Latin word meaning “best” which is why if you are an optimist you always look for the best in the situation.  In 1985 Michael schiere invented the LOT the life orientation test. The LOT was developed to measure the levels of optimism and pessimism through a scale of one to five.

What is the Life Orientation Test and How To Use It? (LOT-R)

Philosophers believe optimism is a state of the mind and body. It is the state of nature, past and present. Its being hopeful and thinking of the most desirable outcome. Psychologists believe optimism is a trait/characteristic which is: genetically passed, environmentally caused or can be learnt over time. They believe being an optimist or pessimist is judged on your health as it all comes from the brain.

I wanted to look into the history of optimism and where did it come from. I found that the concept of optimism strongly links to the work of “Gottfied Wilhelm Leibniz” a German philosopher who believed’ “The best of all possible worlds” This phrase comes from an essay Leibniz wrote in 1710. The statement means that the current world we live in is the best world God could have created. We are living the best life made. The essay is about God and the origin of evil. The purpose of the essay was for Leibniz to solve the “problem of evil”. In the essay Leibniz questions-

“If God is omnibenevolent, omnipotent and omniscient, how do we account for all the suffering and injustice that exists in the world”

Omnibenevolent – means goodness and perfect Omnipotent– means having unlimited power Omniscient – means having the ability to know everything One of the arguments in the essay is that God created the current with evil but could have easily made a world without. He argues that just because there is evil it doesn’t make this world bad. Leibniz argues the contrast between good and evil actually makes the world better. Without evil or a negative side everything would be good which would eventually take the meaning away from good as it would then just be normal. He believed god created evil so we would understand goodness. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_of_all_possible_worlds

This kind of optimism is called ” panglossianism” which is the view that all is for the best in this best of possible worlds. Another kind of optimism is “optimalism” which is the belief that the universe that exists is better than all other alternatives. It excludes the belief of a diety ( a god or goddess) they believe we don’t need one. Atheism – The disbelief or lack of belief in the existence of Gods or God Psychological optimalism by psychologist Tan ben-shahar is the willingness to accept failure while still being confident that success will follow.