That is to say that I like to understand how something works before making plans. That means that if something is extremely large or complex, there's a significant risk of my spending a lot of time obtaining the information required to understand the situation.

Most people are more willing to 'wing it', as they say, and just see how things go. I can't do that. I like knowing how things can go. I like having estimates of what I can expect. How bad/good outcomes can be, how likely these outcomes are to happen, and examples of factors that can influence these factors.

Long winded, but I just wanted to say that it's not good to be optimistic or pessimistic when you make plans, because that'll lead to inaccuracies, but personally I like to be pessimistic, because it's always better to be prepared and not need to be, then to need something and not have it. Within reasonable limits, of course. (what's difficult is determining what's reasonable, because often, planning possible alternative routes is extremely time-intensive and frustrating. Especially without a full grasp of the situation.)

Anyway, that's why whenever you guys laugh at me for being pessimistic, I'm laughing at you for being optimistic. And when you're sad that something went wrong, I empathize, but a very small part of me is whispering that you could have expected it, and possibly even prepared for it. Another small part is wondering how I can avoid mistakes like that in the future. And yet another part is gloating that my approach is worth the vastly increased associated cost, especially if it was something I foresaw.

It's pointless, and not a valid point of contention, because it's personal preference. It's just that I feel that my personal preference results in better outcomes than yours.

K

written at 12:05 a.m.