Why is it that by presenting a new idea/challenge/project; people tend to see things from different perspectives? While some might search for the positive points in it looking at ( for example) new business opportunities , others will tend to search for roadblocks and for reasons not to go for it ? Is the glass half empty or half full? according to Wikipedia this is a common expression, used rhetorically to indicate that a particular situation could be a cause for optimism (half full), pessimism (half empty) or as a general litmus test simply determine if an individual is an optimist or a pessimist. The purpose of the question is to demonstrate that the situation may be seen in different ways depending on one's point of view and that there may be opportunity in the situation as well as trouble.