If Adm. Stockdale did not make it, it would mean nothing. For starters he would not have the story to tell of his observations.

Second, you can have an unbending intent, not believe in illusions, and still not survive. There are other forces at work other than a person’s intent and focus. What his point is that not believing in illusions that are overly optimistic makes a difference to your life in a positive way.

I agree that what I am advocating is pragmatism. I’m also pointing out that it is often missed by people following the hype of optimism.

I’ll agree with you that most emotions are created by the disparity between their imagination and reality. However not all of them. When you gain mastery over your mind you can dispense with misplaced expectations. You can also generate your emotions at will, just out of choice to do so. In that way you can be happy all the time.

All emotions derive from the difference between our desired results and our results in reality. When a real result does not match our desire then we feel negative emotions. When a real result exceeds our desires then we feel unexpectedly positive emotions. Since most people spend their time feeling bad you can quickly guess how realistic most people’s desires are.