As a realist and an engineer what I see is a half a glass of liquid. To answer weather it is half full or half empty I would have to know the history of the glass and the liquid. You may think I'm being a nerd but let's get into it. If you are filling a glass intended to hold twelve ounces and you stop half way through filling it up, the glass is half full as the motion involved with the liquid was filling. If the glass were full generally thinking if you consumed half of the liquid you would see the glass as half empty as you are draining the liquid.

But now what about the liquid, If you liked what you were drinking and drank a half of glass you would be tempted to describe the beverage as being half gone which would imply the glass is half empty. Now if you did not like what you were drinking but had to drink it, after you drank half you would probably see the glass as still being half full because you do not want it.

Now what about the glass? A sixteen-ounce brandy snifter is intended to only hold a splash of brandy. If you knew brandy and looked at a serving you would know the brandy glass was full even though there was still fifteen ounces of air in the glass. If you knew nothing about brandy you might see the glass as being almost empty.

Does the half empty half full argument just divide optimists and pessimists? No! If you are a greedy person and are given half a glass of liquid you are always going to see the glass as being half full as you will always want more, but as far as life you would probably be a pessimist if you were a greedy person.. If you grew up in a house where you never had enough you may always see the glass as only being half full as you may have never seen the glass full but you may still be person who shares.

A younger person involved in building a life, gathering, saving, acquiring may see the glass as half full, yet still be a pessimist. An older person whose earning potential is over may see the glass as being half empty, yet that person may still be an optimist.

So I will be a pill and stick with my original statement that a half a glass is just that "a half a glass of liquid" and you can make of it what you want for whatever reason you want. Half full, half empty, yes or no, right or wrong, black or white, your either with me or against me, friend or foe, simplify, simplify but you know what life is too complex to simplify. We as humans tend to want to deal in absolutes when live itself at best is a positive maybe.

Learn more about this author, Rosemary Chaulk.
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