Interesting Dispute

I was in a brief altercation today that intrigued me in several ways. First it ended in my being told that I would never be successful because I was a pessimist when in fact I was just playing devils advocate to a conversation. To this I have to say who defines success. Is it how much money you have, how happy you are, how much fame you acquire, how spiritually rich you are or any number of other things. I don't know the exact answer to this problem but I believe for me it lies between happiness and being spiritually rich. If its one thing I've learned though don't let other people tell you that you won't be successful. Its happened to me more than once and I believe that constructive criticism is really the only good criticism. This is one of my favorite parts of the movie Pursuit of Happyness when the dad tells his son don't ever let anyone tell you you can't do it (to bad this isn't always the case). As a future teacher this is one of my pet peaves because students need to be encouraged not cut down and I've seen plenty of that in schools and sports. Attacking a persons character is a popular fallacy in any argument and is popular in politics because they can get away with it because of the public eye. Those that actually know something about me would know that I'm actually the opposite of a pessimist and more of a dreamer and if you can dream it you can make it happen. Next, the other person in the conversation fails to see a benefit to devils advocate. This technique started with the catholic faith way back in the day in the canonization of saints. Anyway it has been around and is taught in debate classes, business classes, used by extremely successful bussiness men and many different forums as a great way to learn and work through problems. More research on the usefulness of this popular strategy tool can be found online but one site I particularly liked on the subject was www.devilsadvocategroup.com/category/about/ and besides the part on the catholic faith where it received its origins the sound bite at the bottom of the page labeled devils advocate is extremely good. So sorry to bore anyone who read this but if you gained any insight on any of the topics then it was worth it. I am just tired of being fed crap and not saying anything about it. So don't listen to the naysayers, conformists, and live the life you want, as an individual, because thats what we need more of in this society. Remember group think kills, peace!
P.S. If you want an interesting insight into the power of groupthink read the book The Whole Truth by David Baldacci and while its a work of fiction it has some powerful implications.