Cynicism Hinders Well-Being and Action; Hopeful Skepticism Offers Resilience

Key Quotes

"Cynicism can be defined as a theory about the world and about people in particular it's the theory that humanity in general is selfish greedy and dishonest that is not to say that a cynic will doubt that anybody will ever do a kind thing in their lives they just think that at our core who we are is defined by self interest"

Psychologist Jamil Zaki defines cynicism as a core belief that human nature is fundamentally selfish and dishonest. This perspective, Zaki argues, shapes how individuals perceive and interact with the world, leading them to suspect others' motives and focus on negative actions.

"The alternative he says is a mindset called hopeful skepticism and the reason that i call it hopeful skepticism is because our default tends to be negative when you adopt a skeptical perspective you do tend to move towards a slightly more hopeful and positive place because you're correcting for the biases that we already have people always say what you want me to put on a pair of rose colored glasses and i say no you're probably already wearing a pair of glasses that's like mud colored so just take those off right so that i'm actually not asking people to pay less attention but to pay more attention to the folks around them"

Jamil Zaki proposes "hopeful skepticism" as an alternative to cynicism, suggesting that our natural inclination is towards negativity. He explains that by adopting a skeptical mindset, one can actively counteract these biases, leading to a more positive outlook without ignoring reality.

"The third misconception around cynicism is the idea that cynicism is moral that that really it's so important to be aware of injustice corruption and harm and that cynics are the only ones who are adequately responsive to all the terrible things that happen in the world and as a result that being hopeful or positive is kind of an abandonment of our species and our problems that it's a pair of rose colored glasses"

Zaki addresses the misconception that cynicism is a moral stance, often seen as a necessary awareness of societal ills. He counters this by explaining that while cynics may notice injustice, their worldview suggests that improvement is impossible, potentially leading to inaction.

"Hope takes the deep uncertainty that we have about the future as the place where our actions matter and so hopeful people tend to focus on their agency and they think well there's a vision of the world where things could be better i'm not saying that's what will happen but it's a possibility and in order for that possibility to become more likely i need to take action hopeful individuals for instance tend to be more resilient during adversity lower socioeconomic and underrepresented minority students who have hope are more likely to pursue their academic goals and socially as well hopeful people are more willing to engage in protests right a protest is not a complacent rose colored glasses type of thing to do it's taking major problems head on but why do we take those problems head on because we think that there's a difference to be made"

Jamil Zaki differentiates hope from optimism, emphasizing that hope acknowledges uncertainty and highlights the importance of individual agency. He states that hopeful individuals are more resilient, pursue goals more effectively, and are more inclined to take action against societal problems because they believe their actions can make a difference.

"One of the most important things that i learned in doing research for this project was the difference between cynicism and skepticism you know as we've talked about cynicism is a theory about the world well as you know as a scientist once you have a theory you start to kind of see it everywhere and even want to support it and so there can be some confirmation bias around theories and cynics often have a biased way of looking at the world they almost look at it like lawyers right in the prosecution against humanity they really pay lots of attention to the terrible things that people do or they might explain away the kindness and trustworthiness skepticism is not thinking like a lawyer but thinking like a scientist skeptics don't necessarily have some huge assumption or theory about what people are like instead they look for evidence they're unwilling to rest on early and easy judgments and because of that skepticism is really different from cynicism and skeptics unlike cynics can learn really quickly can adapt to new situations and become much more accurate about people than cynics do"

Zaki distinguishes between cynicism and skepticism, explaining that cynicism operates like a lawyer building a case against humanity, often seeking confirmation bias. Skepticism, in contrast, is presented as a scientific approach that relies on evidence, remains open to new information, and allows for more accurate assessments of people and situations.