The overarching topic of Part IV is the exploration of particular forms of the sense of the erosion of our future and of how we accommodate this sense in our lives and can respond to it. This chapter focuses on one particular shape that a lucid understanding of the future eroded can take: that of a surprisingly “light-hearted” pessimism. The nature of not-simply-resigned but by-no-means-endeavouring experience is difficult to fathom, and its inclusion in the family of ecological emotions may prove problematic. Various philosophical notions are applied to illuminate it, particularly Theodor Adorno’s notion of reflection or contemplation.