Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full

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I was always confused about people quoted as seeing the glass as being Half Full (supposedly meaning they are optimistic) or Half Empty (supposedly meaning they are pessimistic).

From my perspective…if a 12oz tumbler contains 6oz of water, it is not Half Full or Half Empty. It simply contains 6oz of water or 50% of capacity.

I am wondering what happens when NTs see a 12oz tumbler contains 6oz of water. Do the optimistic ones really look at it, happy that the glass contains something, and say/think, “Well, it’s Half Full”. And, do the pessimistic ones really look at it, dissatisfied that something is missing from the glass, and say/think, “Well, it’s Half Empty”.

Or, is it simply yet another stupid expression?

Furthermore, I recently heard several people (on TV) say, “I have a Glass Half Full outlook on life”. Whenever I hear this, it takes several seconds for me to think through what they are implying (i.e. are they suggesting that they are optimistic or pessimistic). Because it makes so little sense. Does anyone else become momentarily puzzled upon hearing this idiom?

I didn't even know it was an idiom. When I read the thread title, I thought "it's both." It would be a dumb argument about over a glass being half empty or half full because they're both right.

I didn't realize it was an idiom until just today (when I found it in an Idiom Dictionary).

For most of my life, I didn't understand why people using this confusing phrase. Like you, it seems like a really dumb argument (because both are right).

Why debate of a glass of fluid when you could drink it? Silly NTs and their expressions for everything. The optimists and pessimists are both correct so I don't know why it's even talked of. Never understood that. How about it being full completely, since the space between the fluid and the top of the glass isn't free of matter? That would solve the problem.. half fluid, half air Or, you could take into account the concentrations of every substance present.. or am I over-thinking this?

The glass was designed to handle surge capacity.

Fnord - Electrical Engineer

I'm annoyed by this as well. The glass has liquid in it reaching half of its total capacity. Either drink it or add more. Half empty just sounds silly to me.

It's funny. Up until recently (say, after I learned about Aspergers and got my diagnosis), I thought people were literally talking about the amount of fluid in a glass. I suppose I answered my own question, by discovering it's one of those dang idioms, that I didn't quite "grok". LOL.

Who cares about the glass--the thing that is important is the water.

I'm taking the other side on this one, it's a well known idiom to express "optimism". To be candid, it's a useless phrase that ends up on motivational posters, but, since it's a part of the "American" english language, it does have a meaning.

It's half full of water and half full of air.

If it has Diet Coke in it, and it's in my sight line, it's empty.

Indeed, it has both states 'half empty' and 'half full' at the same time. So you can call it 'Schrodinger's Glass'

Nice.

Schrodinger's glass would have to be both full and empty at the same time. To achieve this state it would have to be placed into a box with a particle that may or may not decay - and if it decays, activating a device that fills the glass with water. Until you open the box, both states exist - completely full and completely empty. By filling the glass only half way, all uncertainty is removed and a firm state is established.

Pauli's glass would also have a 1/2 state, but only if you lept on it.

My spoon is to big.

The glass is always full.