Wikipedia defines cynicism as “an attitude characterized by a general distrust of others’ motives” as referenced from a book on Classical Cynicism as a philosophy (Navia). In point of fact, the use of the term “Cynic” (capital “C”) is one denoting a particular school of philosophy described among the Greeks of the 6th century BC encouraging the living of life for the sake of virtue in accordance with nature and did not necessarily relate itself to pessimism or nihilism. It is the attitude of cynicism (small “c” if, you will) that I hope to address rather than its proper name counterpart. Of interest is the origin of the word “cynic” itself coming from the ancient Greek word κυνικός (kynikos) meaning “like a dog”, an interesting observation from our modern point of view to which I will return later.
Those who embrace a philosophical world view that is overall cynical in nature find themselves to be oft aligned with a degree of pessimism approaching a type of nihilistic existentialism, that is a belief that life and all things about it are meaningless, although not quite so far along the spectrum of absolute nihilism. Many others consider themselves skeptics or “realists” when in fact a true skeptic would, in the sense of scientific skeptic, simply hold themselves to a standard of so objective as possible an examination of evidence before any conclusion could be reasonably made, optimistic, pessimistic or otherwise.
In that how I will use the term cynicism, it will be to denote the outlook toward the world in general and humanity in particular, in a way that presumes a degree of pessimism about the motives (presuming selfishness and deceit as the human default) and making no account for the presumption of beneficence. I will consider pessimism to be an essential synonym for purposes of discussion even though in the broadest sense, differentiation between the two can certainly be made. This I do in full understanding that the term is used in other contexts and in other discussions in different ways and in those settings some of the following may very well apply differently or even not at all.
Our work outlook as regards others, and even ourselves, stems from our fundamental beliefs about the nature of humanity, that is our philosophical anthropology. Ultimately the question is one of whether people in general are fundamentally good, noble and altruistic or are they fundamentally evil, base and self-serving. One must be wary not to be too simplistic here as there is potential for all of these traits and more in the behaviors of every one of us. It is not necessary to declare one side or the other approaching this presupposition regarding human motives as an absolute dichotomy. As for my own view I subscribe to the assertion of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” In this we all have a capacity to choose, despite humans being good by nature. In this view we are encouraged to, while remaining skeptical, consider when interacting with our fellows to have a presumption of beneficence – that is a default belief that despite the factual accuracy of assertions or the apparent nature of unclear actions, the presumption that others have noble motives even if mistaken in fact or unclear in intention.
I would like to make the argument that while in some scenarios a degree of cynicism, in all reality a degree of skepticism that may look like cynicism is adaptive to optimize survival and other outcomes, as a whole life outlook and as a habit in our interactions with our fellow humans this is a detrimental albeit tempting error.
Optimism in general has been linked with business success, increased levels of happiness and even longevity and likelihood of surviving illness. Cynicism on the other hand has been shown to correlate with a shorter lifespan in the setting of disease, cardiovascular disease in particular (Reich; Almada). In the grand scheme of lookout outward toward one’s life and the interactions one has with others, the health benefits alone of avoiding cynicism and adopting a more optimistic outlook have been evident to those who provide health care for quite some time. Paradoxically, for those of us who practice in acute care settings such as in emergency departments, a degree of cynicism is a common personality trait usually adaptive in origin in an environment wrought with unexpected illness, often deceptive patients seeking a secondary gain such as drugs and conflict with the necessity to make demands of already overtaxed and weary specialty consultants. Similar situations are encountered by police officers, first responders, fire fighters, soldiers and many of those involved in criminal and civil litigation as a business.How then does one seek to salvage one’s own physical, emotional and spiritual health from this temptation toward cynicism? In that I would offer a few strategies.
First, be mindful of an objective sense of the actual prevalence of adverse events and traits in a population. While one may be tempted to think that violent crime is everywhere and that the whole American nation is burning down, the statistics tell a different story. According to FBI statistics, in 2016-17, more than 99.6% of Americans were not victims of a violent crime. Less than one in 19,000 Americans were victims of homicide in 2016-17 according to the FBI. When we consider the billions of human encounters that happen each day in the US, this infrequency suggests not that the default response of human beings is one of violence and aggression, but rather that this response is the exception to the rule. What is more, homicide in particular in the US is at a historic low. So why then are we often tempted to feel as if there is evil and chaos and violence everywhere we turn?
If we look at the news cycles, whether these are networks, cable TV, social media or whatever medium they all commonly have one thing in common: most of the news is bad news. I’ve often joked that rather than calling it “The News” it should be renamed “The Bad News” as even though positive stories do get press, the lead is often a scandal, a heinous act of violence, a moral outrage or an egregious breach of trust. New organizations don’t necessarily peddle information so much as anxiety. When pursuing time tested statistical analysis, author Hans Rosling and colleagues in their book Factfulness showed that the perceptions of modern people are much more pessimistic than the actual statistics would suggest is actually true. Rosling’s argument is that if one looks objectively at modern human civilization that things for the human species are not only much better than we think (poverty is less common than most people think for example) but things are better than they have ever historically have been and show all signs of only improving. This Swedish physician and statistician makes quite the compelling demonstration that if the human predicament is looked at with objective skepticism, the outlook is far more optimistic than cynical. In other words, the numbers suggest that cynicism is not only bad for your health, it’s actually grossly inaccurate scientifically speaking. Something to remember when despairing over what you see when reading or watching “the news” remembering the lyrics to on song about this industry by Don Henley describing the demand of news viewers “People love it when you loose. They love dirty laundry.” This vicarious schadenfreude is a remarkable phenomenon when contrasted with that most people are willing to be kind and helpful to their fellow human being given the opportunity. Were that not true, not a charity on earth would ever exist.
Also, consider the idea that we draw to ourselves what we as human beings draw to ourselves the very types of forces we radiate on a spiritual level from our own being. How often have you noticed that if you are in the midst of happy people, you feel happier? Among a group of sad people, do you tend to feel more blue? It is normal to adapt to our environment and be influenced by it. In the same token we human beings, having a free will, can make conscious decisions to radiate optimism and even joy. I once heard celebrity Steve Harvey advise his audience to “Laugh every chance you get, even if it’s not funny.” His message is that what you put out into the universe is what is attracted back to you. If this concept is true, then what more incentive would we need to replace our baseline outlook from one of cynicism to one of optimism? If this idea about the universe turns out not to be true, then what have we lost? At most a negativity we cling to out of fear. To be pessimistic and cynical is not borne out of strength and courage. I would submit to you rather that it takes not only a lot more strength and courage to resist the temptation to cynicism and instead have faith in the goodness in the world. I once knew a wise man who was confronted with the question of “if the humanity is good, why do so many evil things happen?” His answer included the assertion “If humanity were not good by nature, we should be dumbstruck by the wonder of how much good and how much love actually exists, drowning out the sea of negative events.” It is this goodness which makes humanity the unique creation that it is. If we are just “as dogs” as the literal etymologic translation of “cynic” would imply, we would then fail to see this greater, dare I say divine, aspect of human nature.
So when you’re tempted to mire in the comfort of cynicism about the nature of humanity, consider the adverse effects of this spiritual poison not only on yourself but those around you, your own physical health and – if nothing else – an honest look at the real numbers in the big picture as these tend to portray a much more optimistic picture of the world than the cynical would have us believe.
References for consideration:
Rosling, Hans; Rosling, Ola; Rosling-Ronnlund, Anna. Factfulness: Ten Reasons Why We’re Wrong About the World – and Why Things are Better than You Think. 2018. Flatiron Books.
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956.
Almada et al., 1991. Almada S.J., Zonderman A.B., Shekelle R.B., Dyer A.R., Daviglus M.L., Costa P.T., et al: Neuroticism and Cynicism and risk of death in the Western Electric Study. Psychosomatic Medicine 1991; 53: pp. 165-175
Reich, J, Schatzberg, A. Personality traits and medical outcome of cardiac illness. Journal of Psychiatric Research 44 (2010) 1017-1020.
https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/table-12
Navia, Luis E. (1996). Classical Cynicism: A Critical Study. Contributions in philosophy. 58. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1. ISBN 9780313300158.
