Opt Out of Cynicism

Post by unmole » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 4:43 AM UTC

mitko wrote: post #33

evrydayhustling wrote: post #21

Another good quote for the OP is Miguel De Cervantes, author if Don Quixote: "there is madness in too much sanity, and the greatest madness of all is to see things as they are instead of as they should be". He would know: Cervantes killed a rival on a duel at 17 and fled to sea. They were attacked by pirates and he fought well before getting his hand blown off and taken prisoner. He lived in captivity but befriended…

OP here, thanks a lot for sharing this enlightening story. Your last paragraph remind me also of the Viktor Frankl's "Man Search For Meaning" where the change in outlook was a difference between persevering and perishing in the camps.

Post by sdwr » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 4:52 AM UTC

darkerside wrote: post #49

Benjammer wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also so much more complicated than this. I've known more than one person who didn't act as a cynic, they outwardly preached and proselytized this sort of "change the world" viewpoint, in order to attract attention and twitter followers. In a professional context they wanted to play the part of a "visionary" or whatever, and always acted positive about change. Yet, if you really get to know them and manage to ask…

I wonder if folks say the same about me. It's possible to see the imperfections in the world, and yet be positive about how we operate in a world that's full of them. And no, they will never go away. Until sentience disappears, dissatisfaction will remain. But it doesn't have to mean anger, negativity, or cynicism.

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 4:54 AM UTC

lostmsu wrote: post #75

The author sounds like an apologete of "Four temperaments" theory. He believes cynic == someone who believes in "no change" and complains a lot. Then he labels people as either "cynics" or not. It is as simple as that. (BTW, that is not the definition of a cynic at all) Human personalities are extremely complicated, and the best you can do is correlate traits given a huge amount of data which he probably does not hav…

Post by smoldesu » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 5:05 AM UTC

Barrin92 wrote: post #68

I'm pretty sure I fall into the definition of a cynic given in the piece "according to cynics, the world operates in a certain way, the elites are always the same, and will always be the same. The cynics think we are always playing the same game that has always been played. For example, a cynic may think that media’s only purpose is to sells your attention to advertisers - like I did here. And often they might be rig…

Post by evrydayhustling » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 5:06 AM UTC

cristoperb wrote: post #74

evrydayhustling wrote: post #21

Another good quote for the OP is Miguel De Cervantes, author if Don Quixote: "there is madness in too much sanity, and the greatest madness of all is to see things as they are instead of as they should be". He would know: Cervantes killed a rival on a duel at 17 and fled to sea. They were attacked by pirates and he fought well before getting his hand blown off and taken prisoner. He lived in captivity but befriended…

> The point of this story is not that cynics were wrong but that one never would have survived his ordeal It's interesting you'd use that story to make your point because about 2,000 years earlier Diogenes, the founder of Cynicism, was supposedly captured by pirates on the Mediterranean and sold into slavery. Not only did he survive but the man who purchased him was so impressed that he appointed him to run his house…