"I'd rather be an optimist and wrong than a pessimist and right." - Albert Einstein
Have all the idealists in the world died or given up? Or have they just changed the meaning of "ideal"?
Apathy
Dooms Optimists
…The Optimist Club of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, is
disbanding after 24 years, citing lack of interest.
Funky Dung
Comments 9
Perhaps I'd be more worried if I were Quakertown resident, or had even heard the name before.
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Posted 04 Dec 2004 at 6:13 am ¶Quakertown isn't far from where I grew up.
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Posted 04 Dec 2004 at 4:32 pm ¶Quakertown always seems like such a nice place, almost like Doylestown north — if they can't be optimistic, I wonder how the folks in Croydon and Bensalem are feeling…
Seriously though, I had no idea there even was an optimist club anywhere in the area; I guess I must not be much of an idealist myself.
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Posted 05 Dec 2004 at 2:27 am ¶Let's, folks, not confuse Idealism with Optimism. Idealism is opposed to realism (what is the nature of reality?). Optimism is opposed to pessimism (to what do we progress?).
I must agree, however, that the reality of the optimists shutting down in ol' Quakertown is, at least ideally, a cause for pessimism!
Ack!
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Posted 05 Dec 2004 at 11:00 pm ¶Well, given that my optimism is rooted in my religious faith, I'd fear more the mass closings of Christian churches, rather than some organization that wasn't even three decades old at its time of death!
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Posted 05 Dec 2004 at 11:37 pm ¶Nice way to differentiate, Steve. You have a knack for help clarifying terms, as I saw in some of your debates with Theomorph.
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Posted 05 Dec 2004 at 11:38 pm ¶I think you guys took my statements to be stronger than intended.
I just found it kinda a bummer (in a "the Eagles lost a game" sense) that the club shut down. Apathy about optimism just struck me as sad.
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Posted 06 Dec 2004 at 12:18 am ¶Eagles !?!?!!!
Funky, I take it then that your layover in Pitt is temporary and your sympathies lie (how you say?) further East?
Good shot this year at seeing an intra-PA superbowl, no?
Apathy about optimism just struck me as sad.
So I take this as an admission that you're pessimistic about the future of optimism? Look on the bright side: the Pessimists Club either never existed or closed down a long time ago!!
Cheers!
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Posted 06 Dec 2004 at 2:35 pm ¶There's nothing necessaily temporary about being in Da Burgh, but my sporting allegiance will always be to Philly teams. I may occasionally root for Pgh teams, so long as they aren't playing Philly teams or otherwise affecting their seasons.
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Posted 06 Dec 2004 at 3:47 pm ¶Post a Comment