This is a post that is a little different than things that I have typically done. This, in some ways, is a follow up to my latest post where I briefly discussed the dangers of cynicism in education. Since writing that post, I have been thinking a lot about cynicism and how I see its role within our society more and more. I wanted to share those here:
The first thing that I want to do is to define what cynicism is to me. I see cynicism as a deep distrust between people with differing points of view. This level of distrust is different from that of skepticism. Skepticism is the essential and critical questioning of the information shared with us and the actions taken by people around us, especially those with power. To me, cynicism is instead a core or foundational belief that the people around us, and especially those who disagree with us, only have self-serving motivations and only take self-serving actions. Cynicism is the inability to look at the people with whom we disagree and understand their perspective and to judge that perspective on its own merits.
In her song Cardigan, Taylor Swift sings A friend to all is a friend to none (I am purposefully crediting her and not Aristotle). This proverb, while a little cliche, bears some truth in our society. If a person is attempting to satisfy everyone, with all of the crowd’s opposing view points and goals, then they are really satisfying no one. I see cynicism in a very similar light. If one only believes that everyone else is “out to get them” in some way, then they not differentiating between people whose actions truly have devious motivations and those of us who are just flawed human beings. Jamelle Bouie, in the TikTok that I shared with my last post, makes this point very clear: If you are looking at everyone as though they are a crook, then the actual crooks no longer stand out.
In this way, I see cynicism as being very closely related to being naive. People whom we consider naive are often accused of not viewing the world in a critical eye. I would argue that people who only view the world through the lens of cynicism lack that same critical eye. Critical thinking is not blindly criticizing those we disagree with, instead it is the ability to examine the actions of others, the complex and flawed motivations around of the people us, and the systems that govern us beneath their surface. It is to make connections between the actions of a person and the context they live in. It is to understand the complexities of human motivation and apply that knowledge when evaluating others. People who are cynical do none of these things. Instead, they only look at the surface level and interpret what they see in the most negative light possible.
This lack of critical examination is what causes people who are cynics to be easily manipulated. If nobody is to be trusted, then everyone is given the same amount of trust. This seems laughable on its face, and yet this is what cynics effectively do in practice. By distrusting everyone, they are no longer applying a critical eye to to all of the complexities that impact the actions and motivations of individuals, groups, organizations, and systems. This allows bad actors to manipulate those who are being cynical by telling them things such as: “Well, everyone is the same anyway, so what does it matter?” or “Of course there’s problems, everyone is corrupt.” People who are cynical may think that their distrust is a defense against those who are only self-interested, but instead it is a bright sign saying “Take advantage of me, please.”
That is not to say that we should simply blindly trust everyone. It is important when examining people’s motivations, especially those wielding power in our society, with a clear and critical eye. People in positions of power, whether political, social, or economical certainly desrve a high degree of scrutiny. Rejecting cynicism does not mean that we can’t give our leaders the side-eye. Instead it means that we weigh their actions within the context that they took place with as clear-eyed analysis as possible.
While most people’s motivations are not self-serving, there are some whose are. Not everyone is out to get us, but there are those who are looking to take advantage of people and systems for their own benefit. If we do not attempt discern between those whose motivations and actions are complex, flawed, or misguided and those who are only using others for their own gain, then there is no way for us defend ourselves from those who actively wish us harm. Instead of limiting the power of corrupt individuals, we have instead only legitimized the actions of crooks.
As we navigate into a future that is uncertain, I argue that the fight for our future is not Democrat vs. Republican or Right vs. Left. Instead, I see the fight being between people who want to do the work to make the world a better place and those who allow cynicism to blind themselves and others. Progress is not linear, recent history in the United States proves that, but if we allow those who interpret the actions and motivations of flawed and complex human beings as evidence of everyone being corrupt then there is no way for us to make that progress. Yes, there is a risk that from time to time that we will lose progress, get scammed, or have to rebuild, but that is already happening. Embracing cynicism only ensures that the way life is right now is the best it will ever be.
I do not know what the future holds, but I do know that I refuse to believe that right now is the best that things could possibly get.
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