Opinion – cynicism shouldn’t be our default setting

For many, it’s a reasonable response to the world – one that our culture engineers. Unless we address its heightened prevalence in modern society and work to collectively move past it, however, our trust in others, mental health, and desire to engage in impactful activism will continue to deteriorate.

In the age of 24-hour news, it’s almost impossible not to be a cynic.

This is because we’ve A, never been more informed of the appalling events ceaselessly taking place across the globe and B, never had worse mental health as a result.

Cynicism doesn’t apply solely to how we react to the state of things, however.

To be afflicted by this ‘disease’ (as experts claim it’s helpful to think of it as) also means living under the assumption that ‘ultimately we’re self-interested beings, and because of that we can’t be trusted to truly have each other’s best interests in mind.’

This is how neuroscientist Jamil Zaki defines it, author of a new book titled: Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.

In his words, modern cynicism is the general theory that ‘overall and at our core people are selfish, greedy, and dishonest.’

Cynicism is a false form of security. We use it as a barrier to keep the toxic stuff out, only to create an uninhabitable environment within.

— Sharon Hodde Miller (@SHoddeMiller) September 11, 2024

Fuelled by this notion and a subsequent unwillingness to be vulnerable or open up, we’re less incentivised to look for connection and community, both of which are well-known to reduce stress, improve sleep, and ward off anxiety, depression, and loneliness.

‘It’s almost like cynical people can’t metabolise the calories of social life, so they end up psychologically malnourished, which is toxic at many different levels,’ adds Zaki.

Though seeing the world through these mud-coloured glasses sounds deeply unpleasant, for the most part it’s become our default setting.

Comment sections on social media are the embodiment of this: cesspools of negativity that expose anyone who chooses to upload a video (regardless of whether it’s commendable or hateful) to the risk of being torn apart by angry users hiding behind their phone screens.

While it may not be as blatant offline, cynicism is still everywhere, from the people we know who always manage to be the voice of doom, to those we don’t who tell anyone who’ll listen that striving to be a conscious citizen is ‘pointless’ because ‘the Earth won’t be here in 50 years anyway.’

And despite the preconception that cynics are better off, they actually tend to exhibit more psychological disorders, suffer from heart disease, and aren’t as resilient as non-cynics in the face of danger.

“Don’t succumb to the cynicism of the broken. Work hard. Love a woman. Call your friends. Say thank you more. Exercise. Learn more than you rage. You might scar, but that’s how you’ll learn. Apathy is stagnation; currency for the uninspired.”

We go again tomorrow.

— Andai MD (@andai_d) September 16, 2024

Now, an advocate for being realistic myself (as long as it doesn’t hurt others of course), I don’t necessarily deem this approach that problematic, given it limits our expectations, prevents us from being let down, and keeps us in check.

Yet as Zaki outlines, there’s a difference between being a cynic and being a sceptic.

‘If cynicism is a theory, what theories do is they structure our perception of the world and often bias our perception of the world,’ he says.

‘If you think that things are a certain way, you’ll pay lots of attention to any information that accords with that perspective and ignore or discount evidence that doesn’t, so you end up through your worldview finding confirmation for it and doubling, tripling, quadrupling down.’