Is the glass half empty or half full?

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Image:Glass-of-water.jpg Is the glass half empty or half full? is a common expression, used rhetorically to indicate that a particular situation could be a cause for optimism (half full) or pessimism (half empty), or as a general litmus test to simply determine if an individual is an optimist or a pessimist. The purpose of the question is to demonstrate that the situation may be seen in different ways depending on one's point of view and that there may be opportunity in the situation as well as trouble.

For example, imagine that you are part of a research and development team that has been trying to get an increase in its budget without success because profits have been strong and management has no desire to invest more in research when the company is doing well. When company revenue numbers are next released, it is clear the competition's new product has hurt your company's revenues. That is bad, because it means that you probably won't get a bonus this year, but it also means that you will surely get the budget raise you hoped for to bring your pet project to market. Is the situation good or bad for you? Depending on your point of view, it may be a positive development, although it's certainly not the best you could hope for. Or it may be a negative development with only a crumb of consolation.

Attempts at answers

Image:Curbyourenthusiasmtvshow.jpg Many people see the question not in its rhetorical and philosophical sense, but as a logic puzzle with its own semantic reality and therefore produce comical or pedantic answers that examine only the situation of the glass of water and not the real-life situation it was meant to illustrate (such as the company profits and R&D budget). Answers such as "it depends on the previous empty or full state of the glass" and "the glass is at 50% capacity" have no meaning when applied to the real-life situation. In the earlier example, your company's revenues and R&D budget were not "empty or full" previously and are not now "at 50% capacity." And answers such as "the glass is twice as big as it needs to be" are merely meant to amuse.

It can also be doubted whether the standard answers reflect the outlooks they are associated with. For example, a half-empty glass can be considered good if someone enjoyed drinking the top half. Conversely, it's now only half full.

Template:Philo-stubno:Er glasset halvt tomt eller halvt fullt? da:Er glasset halvtomt eller halvfuldt?