Let me start off by telling you that I have created a soon-to-be-released board game called “Pessimystic
– the board game for pessimists”. The objective of the game and this series of newsletters, is to put an 
end to the notion that pessimism is a negative personality trait possessed by complaining no-fun losers.
Let’s look at The Terminator films and determine if the Terminator was an Optimist or a Pessimist and what this means. I took this next section directly from Wikipedia:
- In the Terminator film series, a Terminator is an autonomous cyborg, typically humanoid, originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier, infiltrator, and assassin.
- James Cameron introduced the first Terminator character in the 1984 film The Terminator, featuring a single cyborg simply called “The Terminator” or “Cyberdyne Systems Model 101”, portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- A cyborg is an organism that has restored function or enhanced abilities due to the integration of some artificial component or technology that relies on some sort of feedback.
I am not an expert in the Terminator series and I will focus this discussion on the first two films in the series only: The Terminator (1984); and Terminator II Judgement Day (1991).
Here is the very basic premise: Forty plus years in the future, on a far more advanced planet earth, a company called Cyberdene Systems Laboratory has evolved from producing computing components, to artificial intelligence, to US military weapons, to cyborgs. Using this technology, Cyberdene creates Skynet, which appears to be a technology-enabled Big Brother system used to control this future world and all the humans and non-humans in it. Humans are revolting against their cyborg-controlling overlords.
There is a long list of Terminator models but we will only look at the T-800 (Model 101). We never see how the T-1000 processes incoming data as we do for the T-800. However, the T-1000 does seem to have been designed with greater social skills than the T-800. He is very pleasant and natural when he interacts with humans unlike Arnie’s T-800. Arnold is a T-800 in both movies and in Terminator 2, a more advanced model, the T-1000, is sent back to do bad things and Arnold’s T-800, now one of the good guys, is sent back to try to stop it even though he is a now-inferior model, still a T-800.
Let’s go through the features of a Terminator as described above:
- an autonomous cyborg
- autonomous meaning it acts on its own and makes its own decisions as to what to do.
- typically humanoid
- it looks like a human being but is really a robot enhanced to be the most superior human being possible using the latest knowledge and technology available at the time of development.
- originally conceived as a virtually indestructible soldier, infiltrator, and assassin
- once again, virtually indestructible means designed to be more successful than all other beings, human and non-human.
- An Infiltrator is someone who enters a community of people without attracting suspicion and is able to gather the information from the members of the community needed to meet its objectives.
And the features of a Cyborg:
- enhanced abilities due to the integration of some artificial component or technology
- humans enhanced to the most superior beings possible using technology.
- that relies on some sort of feedback
- this means that the Terminator models are not programmed to perform a pre-defined limited set of tasks, but receive incoming feedback, process this information, and then make choices as to how to respond – just like humans.
Clearly the Terminators have been designed to be superior in every way so what about Optimism or Pessimism?
“Judgement Day is inevitable” – The Terminator
Here are some definitions which we can compare The Terminator to:
Pessimist
a person who tends to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.
PHILOSOPHY: a person who believes that this world is as bad as it could be or that evil will ultimately prevail over good.
Optimist
a person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or the success of something.
PHILOSOPHY: a person who believes that this world is the best of all possible worlds or that good must ultimately prevail over evil.
Continuous Risk Scanning is performed by Terminators and Pessimists
It’s interesting that the computer displays representing The Terminator’s point of view does not appear until the second movie in 1991. The first movie, released in 1984, featuring a computer-enhanced humanoid-cyborg from the future has no displays of technology, even though Apple’s original Macintosh personal computer was released in the same year and IBM’s first PC was released three years earlier in 1981.
In 1984 there were only 2 million personal computers in use in the USA and by 1990, there were over 50 million, primarily in offices. So, even by the time of Terminator II, this is still pretty advanced stuff we’re seeing, and it shows that Arnold is from a far advanced place and is technology-optimized.
In the first appearance by Arnie in Terminator 1, he arrives naked and seems to be aware that he needs clothes to blend in with the humans. He approaches four tough guy punks who mock him for being naked. Now, his creators were human, and he is designed to pass as human, so they must have been familiar with the dynamics of social interactions. If the Terminator was designed to be an Optimist, relying on goodness and the kindness of strangers, wouldn’t he possess a wide range of social skills?
- Charm
- Charisma
- Kindness
- Gratitude
- Friendliness
- Forgiving
- Fun-loving approach to life
- Sense of Humor
- Easy going
- Hopeful
- Persuasiveness
Doesn’t the list above describe the stereotypical Optimist? Does The Terminator T-800 portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger possess any of these qualities?
The Terminator says to the punks: “Give me your clothes.” Some might argue that the Terminator was designed to expect that if he asks a human for anything they will gladly give it to him which is very optimistic. However, if that was the case, we would expect Arnie’s tone to have been less menacing. If you expect humans to respond with generosity there would be no need to demand the clothes. If he really was an Optimist, he would have asked for the clothes in a nice friendly manner.
Arnie demands the clothes in a very threatening manner which indicates that he knows they will not give the clothes willingly. He deliberately uses a very rude approach knowing that he will make the punks angry. He knowingly provokes them to attack him and then demolishes them in a viciously brutal assault.
I mentioned above that I am not a Terminator expert but what I always remembered from the first Terminator films were the scenes where we see the T-800 processing incoming information. In Terminator 2, Arnie arrives naked again. He can speak, so don’t you think that when he is assigned this second mission, he would have asked to be fully dressed this time? (Update: apparently only organic matter can travel back in time, clothes don’t make it)
We’re not sure what he’s doing as he approaches the biker bar. Why is he assessing the vehicles parked out front? Is he trying to understand the threat level inside or is he looking for a specific wardrobe fashion style? The Harley-Davidson is a “Suitable” “Match”. For what? His preferred type of vehicle?
They are showing us that Arnold’s computer-enhanced brain works just like a human brain in that additional information comes in until he has enough info to make a conclusion “Assess: Suitable”.
First, he assesses the vehicles parked out front and then he assesses the place he is about to enter. “Assessing probability camouflage cover” sounds like a military risk analysis. Now, if The Terminator was an Optimist, he’d be thinking “this looks like a nice welcoming neighborhood establishment, I can’t wait to meet some new friends, have some laughs, and then be given the clothes I need from one of my new friends.”
It’s pretty clear that Arnie is going into the bar expecting trouble, not new friends. When he does the “Size Assessment” we know that all he wants is some new clothes. His assessment ends with: ”Priority Override Defense Systems Set … (to) MAX”. This alone proves that The Terminator portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger is a PESSIMIST. Based solely on the look of this guy and the place he’s in, Arnie goes into Maximum Threat Alert. He knows right from the start that there will be no new friends and no laughs. He is prepared for what happens next. This is what Pessimists do every waking minute of every day.
Let’s follow the scene to the end to see if, perhaps, an optimistic approach would have been more effective?
Arnie says to the biker: “I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle”. His tone is not menacing this time, it sounds like he is on official business and is requesting assistance. The biker laughs so it appears he is not taking it as a threat or an insult.
The biker then blows smoke in his face and laughingly says “You forgot to say please”. Look what Arnie does: he assesses the danger of the cigar smoke which is exactly what a Pessimist would do. Pessimists continuously scan for all risks and so does The Terminator.
Then the biker butts his cigar out on Arnie’s chest and Arnie demolishes the whole room of bikers. The Terminator tried a lighter approach but was prepared for the worst. The lighter approach did not work.
In Conclusion: Terminators are Pessimists
Terminators are programmed to complete their mission but the choices they make to ensure the mission is completed successfully is up to them. Similarly, humans also have missions in the form of goals, objectives, jobs, assignments, and responsibilities.
Terminators were designed to be pessimistic:
- recognize that threats and risks are everywhere;
- continuously scan for risks;
- assess the risks for the probability that they will occur and the severity of the impact if they do occur; and
- take steps to avoid the risks wherever possible.
Pessimists do the same.
Moving along
I look forward to hearing from those of you with expertise in The Terminator film series to comment on my conclusion that The Terminator was designed to be a 
Pessimist not an Optimist.
If you are interested in the game there are links to additional info below.
If you are mildly interested you might still want to receive future newsletters.
As a pessimist myself, I, of course, don’t really expect the board game, or this blog, or the campaign to redeem the reputations of pessimists, to become successful. But hey, ya never know, even pessimists are occasionally wrong.
Thanks for your attention.
Yours truly,
The Happy Pessimyst
I shall return. Although, something bad might happen which prevents my return.
Email: pessimysticbgame@gmail.com