# We Are Biased Towards Pessimism Pg 214 BOI Consider [9 - Optimism](9%20-%20Optimism.md). In general a counter argument to [Optimism](Optimism.md) is extreme cases of pessimism. For instance, imagine if a bad actor was able to create the knowledge to generate the black death. This could then be spread to millions of people. This was a creation of new knowledge that lead to a negative outcome. So, if knowledge can lead to good or bad outcomes, why should we feel *confident* in seeking it? At the very least couldn't you say that it is effectively a coin flip whether or not the new knowledge is a net positive or negative? * Problems are inevitable * no matter what we do - whether we create knowledge or try and remain static (precautionary principle) - we will have problems * Insufficient knowledge is the root of all problems * all evils are caused by insufficient knowledge * negative outcomes from new knowledge arise from a lack of sufficient knowledge to mitigate potential harm, rather from knowledge itself being negative * In the plague example, the issue is actually a consequence of insufficient knowledge about preventing such a scenario or mitigating its effects. It is not the knowledge of the plague itself that is the problem but rather the lack of knowledge to stop it. * Knowledge is the solution * The solution to any problems created by new knowledge is also new knowledge * The [Precautionary Principle](Precautionary%20Principle.md) is itself at once both a pessimistic and optimistic philosophy * It is pessimistic because it believes we can't get better than we are right now * It is optimistic because it thinks we can't get worse than we are right now. For example it would argue that existing knowledge is satisfactory to handle anything that is thrown at us! I am going to try and summarize this as succintly as possible. DD argues that we will always have problems, whether or not we strive to create new knowledge or not. So, given that we will always have problems, we have to ask: should we strive to create new knowledge? If we don't we will _certainly_ not be able to solve our problems. If we do create new knowledge, we will be able to solve our current problems, while at the same time creating more. Yes this means we are left with new problems, but as we stated at the beginning, we were always going to have problems. So that is nothing _new_. TODO: Include [We Advance By Moving From Problems to Better Problems](We%20Advance%20By%20Moving%20From%20Problems%20to%20Better%20Problems.md) --- Date: 20250111 Links to: Tags: References: * []()