The affliction of cynicism, and reading about collapsing constitutional norms

Weekly Ink #11

A new weekly newsletter with findings, practical wisdom, and interesting conversations from across the web, curated by yours truly.

Contemplations

Meditations, practical philosophy, and the occasional restless thought.

People are insincere, institutions are corrupt, everyone has a hidden agenda, and things are generally bad. If this sounds familiar, you may be suffering from an affliction known as cynicism.

Don't be cynical. Cynicism arises from a subconscious desire to identify patterns and protect you from disappointment. There is an allure to cynicism: it can make us feel like we see the world clearly, without naïve illusions. It gives a certain sense of self-satisfaction to dismiss everything as corrupt or doomed. But in reality, cynicism is often a defense mechanism and an excuse for disengagement. As a mindset, it’s a self-indulgent and self-involved way of viewing the world.

This doesn’t mean we should be unthinkingly optimistic; that's not an antidote. Reality is harsh and uncaring; life involves much suffering; let’s not pretend otherwise. However, a cynical mindset turns us into self-righteous curmudgeons, blind to the good being done by others while being overly suspicious of motive. Conversely, an overly optimistic mindset can blind us to real challenges.

Adopt Flexible Lenses

Instead of adopting cynicism or optimism as your default mindset, use them as lenses to inspect the world.

Take climate change. It’s real. It’s man-made. It’s not up for debate.

With our cynical lens, our observations may be something like this: We’re not decarbonizing fast enough, we overconsume, we produce too much waste, and world governments are failing to act at the scale and urgency required. We’re blowing past planetary boundaries, and oh god, we’re doomed; it’s time to sign up for my spot in the Vault-tec program.

Now, let’s remove the cynical lens, put on the optimistic lens, and assess the issue from here. And well, look, it seems— we have actually made some meaningful progress. Advances in EV and battery technology and solar power are significant. Considerable progress has been made under the Biden administration. We may, in fact, be close to peaking on CO2, and the future could still be bright.

Reality Is Complex

The reality is that reality isn’t cynical or optimistic; it just… is. Two things can be true simultaneously. People and society are complicated and messy. Some are self-serving, and we should be skeptical of both power and those in power. However, more often, the leading cause of bad results isn’t bad actors but errors of judgment, unintended consequences, stupidity, or incompetence (Hanlon’s razor). Most people are not much different from you and me, regardless of their wealth or status; they are fallible, stumbling through life and figuring it out as they go along.

Conversely, it’s naive to always project idealism or optimism on people and challenges. Sometimes, people are exactly what they appear to be. I have no illusion about the danger Donald Trump poses. I also generally like Biden and believe he has made meaningful progress on critical issues that will benefit us. But I have no illusions about why he asserted executive privilege over the audio recordings of his interview with Bill Hurr.

Choose Hope

The point here is not to dissuade you from looking for the positive or the ill in life but to dissuade you from adopting either outlook as the default. Cynicism, in particular, does more harm than good, both to our well-being and, in a broader sense, our community; cynicism disengages us.

Instead, be hopeful.

Strive to assess reality clear-eyed; use cynicism or optimism as analytical tools to inspect from different angles rather than the state through which you consider the world, and then, regardless of the outcome, opt to be hopeful. There is no downside to having a hopeful mindset. A hopeful person looks to understand reality clearly while still seeking to improve things. A hopeful person acknowledges the shortcomings, challenges, and harsh realities while still having faith in humanity’s ability to make progress.

You’ll be happier for it to boot.

Insights

Curated stories and ideas.

The Perils of Moneyballing Everything: What a great read. No notes. go check it out if you like thinking about the world and making better decisions.

Is America dictator-proof?: It’s not. America has become complacent. That’s all there is to it. It’s a decadent, self involved nation that lacks a shared national narrative and purpose to strive for. There are wolves in sheep clothing preparing to feast upon the flock, and many of us don’t see it because everytime another one goes missing they say “well I’m not the shepherd, it’s not my job, I’m just a sheep”. It’s up to us to protect institutions, the constitution isn’t some mystical straight jacket, and politicians are people who respond to incentives, same as anyone.

Dialogue

Voices, perspectives, and conversations from our community and across the web.

The Most Profoundly Not-Normal Facts About Trump’s 2024 Campaign: It’s easy to sometimes lose sight of the specific things this man has done and says. Sobering reminder that there is nothing normal about Trump, and the news media has done plenty to help normalize him. I don’t say this lightly, but it so blatantly obvious that the man is a mendacious narcissist.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think! I enabled comments and I always enjoy hearing from you.

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