I’m a pretty steady optimist, usually assuming things will work out, though last week I had a bout of pessimism. (I think I’m over that now) So the traditional optimist/pessimist dilemma is this: “Is the glass half full or half empty?” Despite being on the positive side of the game, I do have to say that the odds are in favour of it being half empty.
If you remember last week I addressed the philosophical question “If a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound?” and pretty much drained out every ounce of philosophy in favour of the physical facts. I’m about to put this glass of water on the very same cold steel examination table.
I start with a pretty simple statement. The status of the water level in the glass depends on the direction of change. If a glass is in the process of being filled with water, the mid-point would then be half-full on the way to being fully full. On the other hand, if the water was emptying it would reach the half-empty point. So in the simplest form the answer depends on whether the water is being poured, or being drank.
But what happens if you come into a room with a glass having it’s water line mid-way with no knowledge of it’s past status. What then? Elementary, my dear Watson… you’d have to look for clues. Lip marks would suggest drinking. Water clinging to the inside wall would suggest recent pouring. Both would confirm half-empty. If lacking those clues, but the water is cold, you might assume it was recently poured. Half-full.
So let’s say the glass was placed by a ninja. No identifying marks, no spills, and it’s room temperature. Well there is one last thing that tips the odds definitely in favour of half-empty, so long as you don’t mind being the kind of person who argues such technicalities. When in doubt, the glass is half-empty because at any given moment the water is evaporating and the glass is making molecular baby steps towards being empty again.
Sure you can never be sure, but that’s science. You look at the data, make careful observations, and then take an educated guess at how to best describe what you see.
- Source: I’m not sure anybody other than me would want to take credit for this. This is so silly I really should have saved it for casual Friday.
