Is the human mind half full or half empty?

So why is it that our natural progression in life often means that we have to become more cynical as we age?

Adults always regard young people as being "naive", that they don't know how the "real world" works. But who determined that the "real world" should be crappy and horrible, full of all things that make people fundamentally unhappy anyway?

Why can't it be that we grow up thinking that the world is going to be horrible, but then realize as we grow older that it's really a wonderful place to be and this is due to the general kindness of the human spirit? That the "real world" is really frickin' amazing with sunshine, ponies, rainbows and all that? It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you think about it.

For one thing, how many genuinely evil people do we meet in our life?

I, for one, have not met anyone who has intentionally attempted to harm others just for the sake of doing something evil. Most of the time, we just tend to do harm to others as a consequence of our inner insecurities or due to our drive for healthy competition gone wrong. As far as I know, I've never met anyone who constantly schemes to hurt someone else either physically or mentally, just because.

People who actually do so are most often insane, something of which in other words rules them out of having any real intention of causing harm for evil's sake.

So does that mean that we live in a world full of crazies? And does the craziness of other wear off on us and hence makes us crazy ourselves?

Is that the real reason why we think that our natural progression in life means that we have to become more cynical as we age, that the thought is essentially a product of our insane mind?

So by deduction the solution to the problem, in order to break this hegemony of illogical cynicism, is to be more optimistic and to trust in the human spirit and kindness of others.

At once - the reactive thought that comes after reading the former statement is that it's too difficult and too naive.

But, well, at least maybe it's a lot less crazy.