Negative knowledge is better than no knowledge at all. If you have no knowledge of a given subject, and if you cannot defeat the debater in front of you on the issues, go negative. In other words, I will use negative knowledge to overshadow my lack of knowledge. If you are, in fact, more knowledgeable than I am on the issues, I will accuse you of believing what they want you to believe.  My counterpoint is: Just because it’s negative, doesn’t mean it’s true. On that note: very few, if any, people believe that they are pessimists.