Reply To: Toshiba's "Micro Nuclear Reactor" – it's not fusion, but it's here now

[Warwick]

Rezwan wrote:

However, let’s think positive, and put our energy into making it work out.

Alas, I was just reflecting on this today. I’m a bit of a negative person. I suppose you might call it a pessimist. (pessimists for fusion!) I prefer realist. But in any case, positive thinking seems unnecessary. You do the work. You don’t have to fake emotion around it. Just do it. So, yes, put your energy into making it work out. I agree with that wholeheartedly. But why mask things with unproven positivity? It’s healthier to acknowledge the risks, and diversify the portfolio. That seems sensible to me. General fusion managed to raise $35 million for a fusion project with just such an approach. No need to fake anything. And their scientists want other approaches tried as well. There’s no either/or here.

Back to positivity – I’m still working out the balance. I find that a lot of people require the positivity thing, and this attitude of mine is perceived as a downer. Then again, Fusion has been called the “science of wishful thinking”, with enthusiasm met by the “wait and see” stonewall, (i.e., you talk to folks and they say, “Whatever. Let me know how it turns out”). But we want to engage people now, without “over-selling”.

I can’t change that, so that would be another thing to outsource. A chipper communications person 🙂

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depressive_realism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias

People that are positive about existing circumstances (and immediate opportunities) are sometimes so because they’d rather appreciate reality than compare it to a more ideal condition. The only people that have the potential to ever change anything are those that are positive, or at least stoic, about the potential of the future, while remaining steadfastly negative about the present. So keeping it real is the only way to go.

I say “or at least stoic” because really it doesn’t matter. You might as well try to make a change; if it’s not possible then it will not have mattered. It makes sense to be indifferent about whether improvement is possible or not.
But it’s probably easier to spread a positive attitude to something than a stoical one.

You’re right of course that any particular endeavour could fail. I don’t think that committing to specifics is overall a bad thing though; no one is going to look at it and assume that success is assured.

This is also a cultural thing as what most Americans consider normal may be slightly more positive than in some other countries (in my limited experience). e.g. if you go to watch a film with an American and it turns out to be a bit rubbish, there’s not much point in taking the mick out of how bad it is … they just don’t see why they’d want to get into the hate.