Holding a cyclical view of time can make someone pessimistic about the future for many reasons. They think that the world came from chaos to order and back to chaos, thinking that there was no point in doing anything to make their life better and that there was no point in making inventions. They thought that it was hopples to leave a legacy for their children.
After the birth of Christ the western civilization tended to think of time as linear, which has a beginning, middle,and an end. They made inventions to make their life easier and improving life for their children. Future generations can build on past technology and inventions.
By improving life, inventions, and technology a person can increase their capital. Capital could be in the form of money, land, or labor. Inventions make things easier, faster and they can help you get work done on time.
Having a cyclical view of time as opposed to a linear view of time leads to less inventions and less advanced technology. This is because of the feeling the advancement is pointless because cycle from chaos to order and back to chaos.