Hey, Shadow, good to see you here at last!

Your observations spurred a somewhat tangential thought: to what degree might it be possible for a pessimist to change his or her perspective? Even though one's genes lay out a foundation, there's actually a lot of operational space to work from. It's seemed to me that some number of pessimists, if they were to so choose, could create a happier perspective ... but doesn't that also suggest that for some, the attempt is akin to teaching a pig to sing?