Glass Half-Empty vs Glass Half-Full

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-02-16 03:54pm

I'm sure you've all heard it. But I feel that no matter which side you take, you're still a pessimist. Hear me out:

Glass Half-Empty. Well, obviously. It was full, now it's being emptied. Meaning that there is an increasingly less amount in that glass. This being the usual pessimist position anyway, I'm not going to go into detail about it.

Glass Half-Full. The side usually taken by the optimist. However, I think it's still pessimistic. This means that the glass was never full to begin with. Somebody only filled it half way up. Why? Because the glass, or whatever it is containing, is not important enough to be full, only half way there. So, it just shows that whatever it was, was not important, and did not rate a full glass.

Now, could I have said it better, and organizied my thoughts in a more clear fashion? Possibly. But, hopefully, you'll understand my meaning.

Thought, comments, flames?

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-02-16 03:54pm

The glass is half-filled.

Grand Admiral Thrawn · Post by **Grand Admiral Thrawn** » 2003-02-16 03:56pm

Just drink the rest!

Post by **RogueIce** » 2003-02-16 03:56pm

verilon wrote:The glass is half-filled.

It's always been half-full when I heard it. But what difference does that make anyway?

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-02-16 03:57pm

RogueIce wrote:
verilon wrote:The glass is half-filled.
It's always been half-full when I heard it. But what difference does that make anyway?

It means the question is stupid.

NEXT!!

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-02-16 03:58pm

RogueIce wrote:
verilon wrote:The glass is half-filled.
It's always been half-full when I heard it. But what difference does that make anyway?

nonono... it's my conception. The glass is neither half-empty nor half-full, but half-filled.

Andrew J. · Post by **Andrew J.** » 2003-02-16 03:59pm

What the hell is my glass doing half-full? Barkeep, fill up this glass right now!

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2003-02-16 04:00pm

Depends on how the water got halfway.

If the water was poured into the glass and stopped halfway, then it's half full.

If the water was poured out if the glass and stopped halfway, then it's half empty.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-02-16 04:45pm

The glass is too big.

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2003-02-16 04:46pm

aerius wrote:The glass is too big.

Engineering major?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2003-02-16 04:55pm

Computers actually, but I've always had a fondness for engineering and I've taken a few engineering courses as part of my course distribution requirements.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-02-16 05:04pm

IMO, it's not so much how empty/full the glass is, it's what's inside the glass that matters.

Jadeite · Post by **Jadeite** » 2003-02-16 05:09pm

A cookie to whoever can name the comic strip that ran this joke (minus the illustration of course):

The three basic personality types
1. The Glass is half-full
2. The Glass is half-empty
3. "Hey! I ordered a cheeseburger!"

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-02-16 05:12pm

Who gives a shit? The glass is filled to 50% capacity. The use of the term "half-full" or "half-empty" is precisely literally identical in terms of meaning, so any attempt to assign psychological implications requires that one accept the notion of Freudian slips, hidden subconscious meanings behind choice of words in this situation, etc. If you reject those concepts, then it is purely academic whether you say it is half-full or half-empty.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-02-16 05:13pm

I place the second half of my water in a reserve glass in a separate bunker for security.

Post by **haas mark** » 2003-02-16 05:15pm

Darth Wong wrote:Who gives a shit? The glass is filled to 50% capacity. The use of the term "half-full" or "half-empty" is precisely literally identical in terms of meaning, so any attempt to assign psychological implications requires that one accept the notion of Freudian slips, hidden subconscious meanings behind choice of words in this situation, etc. If you reject those concepts, then it is purely academic whether you say it is half-full or half-empty.

Hence why I said it's half-filled.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-02-16 05:16pm

Yeah...that's one way to settle a debate.

Companion Cube · Post by **Companion Cube** » 2003-02-16 05:17pm

Water? I don't need water. I subsist on LCL most of the time.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2003-02-16 05:22pm

Lord Wong: Interestingly, its been said by many (Sherry Turkle, and her students) that "freudian slips" are merely information processing errors. To quote one of her students whos also a comp sci major, "In a computer, closed equals minus open." Its just a bit thatsbeen dropped, no problem, raw error in processing.

Thats the kind of psychology I like: Scientific grunge psych, not this theorising and labelling shit.

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2003-02-16 05:27pm

Given that this is SD.net, whatever answer is agreed upon should probably be suitably perverted, and make at least one or more pornographic references.

Utsanomiko · Post by **Utsanomiko** » 2003-02-16 05:30pm

Jadeite wrote:A cookie to whoever can name the comic strip that ran this joke (minus the illustration of course):

The three basic personality types
1. The Glass is half-full
2. The Glass is half-empty
3. "Hey! I ordered a cheeseburger!"

The Farside.

And you're missing one of the people.

Ren · Post by **Ren** » 2003-02-16 05:57pm

The glass is neither half-empty nor half-full, it is all the way full, half with water and half with air. Does that make me an optimist?

StimNeuro · Post by **StimNeuro** » 2003-02-16 05:58pm

Darth Utsanomiko wrote:
Jadeite wrote:A cookie to whoever can name the comic strip that ran this joke (minus the illustration of course):

The three basic personality types
1. The Glass is half-full
2. The Glass is half-empty
3. "Hey! I ordered a cheeseburger!"
The Farside.

And you're missing one of the people.

Not to take the thread off-topic too far, but:

I'm not a fan of subtitles because I can recognize good Japanese, but becasue I can recognize bad English.

You might want to fix the word 'because'. It just looks weird when you say that you can recognize bad English, but misspell a word.

Sam Or I · Post by **Sam Or I** » 2003-02-16 06:13pm

Either way it means some one does not know how to drink properly. If you have a beer, and it is half full, you wussed out and could not take a whole pint. If it is half empty, better bottom up you still have a have left to drink.

The Great Unbearded One · Post by **The Great Unbearded One** » 2003-02-16 07:18pm

How many glasses of water have you seen that were exatley half full/empty?