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Skeptical or Cynical?
person
Don't believe everything you thinkThe liminal space Veteran
in Philosophy
I've been asking myself lately where is the dividing line between the two? I haven't spent any time looking into it yet but I thought I'd throw it out here as a question to see what you all thought.
Some initial random thoughts. Maybe skepticism could be considered a lack of belief and cynicism an active disbelief? I imagine a cynical person thinks of themselves as just being skeptical but really any one individual could believe in some things be skeptical about some and cynical about others still.
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For me, scepticism is about an impulse to automatically disbelieve. It is a habit of thought that one can acquire, and can make it difficult to fully accept things on faith, which can be an important component of religious thought. Often scepticism takes the requirement for a high standard of evidence of phenomena to an extreme.
Cynicism in my opinion is a tendency to look for ulterior motives such as personal gain, and perhaps see them when they are not there. It can distort ones clear view of reality, especially with respect to abstract entities such as government or corporations.
Well, starting with the definitions is a good jumping off place.
SKEPTIC
-a person inclined to question or doubt all accepted opinions.
-an ancient or modern philosopher who denies the possibility of knowledge, or even rational belief, in some sphere.
-One who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.
-One inclined to skepticism in religious matters.
CYNIC
-a person who believes that people are motivated purely by self-interest rather than acting for honorable or unselfish reasons.
-a person who has negative opinions about other people and about the things people do; especially : a person who believes that people are selfish and are only interested in helping themselves
-A person whose outlook is scornfully and habitually negative.
I don't think they are really at all the same. Most people I know who identify as skeptics (whether we are talking religion, paranormal stuff, or whatever) are still questioning. They may have already formed opinions and will bring up holes in arguments, but they are usually still interested in discourse, and have not become so set in their beliefs that they shut everyone down. Being skeptical, I don't think, is necessarily bad if you are willing to listen.
Cynics are just angry, negative people who have experienced life in such a way that leaves them to believe that there is no inherent good in anyone. The people I know who define themselves as cyincal are the most egotitical, self-important people I know. They use their "I am a cynical old fart" flags as a reason to be crabby at everyone, to name call, to treat people badly. One man I know who is cynical about all of life operates a resort here, and he has a blog where he does nothing but bash all the people who visit his resort and make him rich. He hates pretty much everyone and everything. He comments so negatively on everything that I had to block him on FB because even seeing his comments on random people's pages completely dragged down my mood. But on another level, I feel really bad for these people. To question and be unsure of things is one thing. To be so angry and upset all the time is a horrible way to live and they don't seem to know anything else.
that can, of course, be expanded to single out religious/belief topics as well. Skeptics still ask questions, still doubt. They aren't sure, and they know they aren't sure. Cynics are sure they know whatever it is they know and they are sure you are wrong and will let you know in every way possible.
Let's try this. I'm skeptical that a God exists and created the universe so He could have some place to stick humans. I'm cynical when you tell me this God gave you a list of rules we must all obey.
I think cynical refers to people and their actions and justifications.
To me it seems the difference is like the one between agnostic and atheism.
To be skeptical is to question claims and to be cynical is to reject them outright.
I always thought of cynical as having a dark world view, varying in intensity of course;
skepticism is casting a scientific eye on things, not accepting the 'givens' on different ideas/theories/opinions of stuff.
Skepticism isn't necessarily an out-of-hand and permenent dismissal of what is believed. One can be skeptical, but inquisitive at the same time, inclined to delve into a matter to disprove it, or to see what's there, to see what's behind the belief and what the facts are. Skeptics who examine a question can end up agreeing with the believer, in the end. Cynics don't ever bother to examine what they're dismissing.
Something to flavor the skeptic/cynic pot, perhaps:
For my money, so-called "contrarian" thinking is one of the fundamental building blocks of all critical thinking.
Contrarian thinking posits the opposite of what is asserted and examines it from that perspective. The object is not to disdain or elevate; the object is to formulate as clear a picture/philosophy as possible.
Aside from anything else, contrarian thinking can bring depth to what may otherwise be shallow (if impassioned) with its good's and bad's, black's and white's. For my money, such thinking brings an honest person to the conclusion that a personal choice is not the same as a carved-in-stone truth.
And so, for example, I consider anchovies and abomination unto the lord. But that doesn't mean anchovies necessarily are an abomination.
Could I just point out it is sceptic......
I came across this little post that did a clever job of juxtapositioning the two ideas;
So the question that occurs to me is when does skepticism of an issue turn into cynicism? If I become skeptical of a claim because the people making the claim have shown themselves to be self interested and biased in their motives does that mean I'm then cynical, even if it is justified?
Its an American/British thing like color and colour.
http://grammarist.com/spelling/sceptic-skeptic/
Yes. I know. I was kidding......
You were? [lobster said cynically)
I am skeptical. [@federica is a self confessed grammar nazi]
... meanwhile ... I feel neti-neti is a useful spiritual understanding of the more mundane but equally useful 'contrarian' position that @genkaku mentions.
Personally I don't believe anything I believe, even if it is true. In this sense 'truth' is a lie ... which undermines my whole sense of certainty. Most of us want certainty above Truth. Tsk, tsk ...
... and now back to abominable anchovies and other fishy ideas ...
Sceptic is just too close to septic for me, lol.
English language (of all types) is just so weird. I wish our language were more like Native languages where entire sentences/thoughts could be summed up in a word. As usual, we're often lost in the detailed nitty gritty and missing the forest for the trees.
How is referring to cynics as “cynical old farts“ not like calling a person with special needs a “retard” on the appropriateness scale in rainbow land? It’s just bad taste and ageist, that’s all. And “really feeling bad for these people”? How about just bad feelings about these people. Honestly.
@karasti said Cynics are just angry, negative people who have experienced life in such a way that leaves them to believe that there is no inherent good in anyone. The people I know who define themselves as cyincal are the most egotitical, self-important people I know. They use their "I am a cynical old fart" flags as a reason to be crabby at everyone, to name call, to treat people badly. One man I know who is cynical about all of life operates a resort here, and he has a blog where he does nothing but bash all the people who visit his resort and make him rich. He hates pretty much everyone and everything. He comments so negatively on everything that I had to block him on FB because even seeing his comments on random people's pages completely dragged down my mood. But on another level, I feel really bad for these people. To question and be unsure of things is one thing. To be so angry and upset all the time is a horrible way to live and they don't seem to know anything else.
It is a good question even El-Presidente, 'The STrumpet Gringo' might ask of his bugle blowers.
http://opcoa.st/0778n
I am quite happy to sneer at the cynical billionaire and daddy's boy ability to remain solvent (unless used as a hair product) just as he sneers at those beneath him [in his warped thinking only]. However I am critical of his ability to run anything more than a tanning salon. [ not harsh enough
]
So you might say my cynical stance is a result of critical thinking.
I suspect that perhaps that may be one of the reasons the spelling was altered. In any case, it's not of any importance, I really was just kidding... You know me and my linguistic foibles!
The wonderful think is that a Dutch deaf/mute person signing, can pretty well understand a French deaf/mute person signing.
This is why F2F communication is so important: our body language is so expressive, we can communicate pretty well without words when it's necessary....
@IronRabbit Because he knows better and he can help it. People with special needs cannot control what they have to deal with. This man can, and he is willfully, publicly hateful towards entire groups of people in our community, including back stabbing the people who make him rich by spending money at his business while he writes anonymously about how much he despises them. Mentally afflicted, of course, like most of us to some degree. It is just my experience with one such person and his hate is contagious, just like Trump. He has riled many of our community members and they now go about rants together about how much they hate some people who live in our community. So no, I'm not going to excuse willful behavior such as that. Not any more than I would excuse Trump's, despite understanding to a degree how someone arrives at that place and having compassion for them for that reason. They are the most difficult people for me to deal with and they make me very sad for how they so, so poorly treat people.
Reading the Wikipedia entries helped clarify the ideas for me.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_skepticism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynicism_(contemporary)
Skepticism can range from the sort of critical thinking around a subject referred to earlier to denying that any knowledge is possible at all. The question of is anything knowable or what qualifies as true knowledge seems to be at the heart of philosophical skepticism.
Cynicism was simply defined as the distrust of others motives. So being skeptical of something like global warming or a particular religious system because you distrust the motives of the scientists or clergy saying they are just in it for the money or power would seem to cross the line into cynicism.
But maybe it would be justified, politics for example, imo distrusting a politician's motives as a starting point is the correct position based on the evidence. Perhaps you could start there but still remain open to them being honest, kind of a reverse skeptical position? Like they need to prove their claim of virtue and integrity.
If I may @person I would like to approach this by adding a third component. Trust. Deep realisation allows us to treat people 'in good faith', in other words they are to be trusted even though such a position is niave or foolhardy.
We may be aware through wisdom, experience, understanding that we should be as is the present fad, cynical and skeptical BUT the heart gives the benefit of the doubt. This is considered conventionally foolish, indeed it is ...
Never overestimate 'good sense'. Just be careful ... you could end up Holey Moley ...
The Holy is too great and too terrible when encountered directly for men of normal sanity to be able to contemplate it comfortably. Only those who cannot care for the consequences run the risk of the direct confrontation of the Holy.
http://opcoa.st/07r00
Ay curumba!
It seems to me, a moderate amount of skepticism can be beneficial, whereas, cynicism smacks of bitterness/jadedness...
Perhaps skeptism deals with knowing the truth while cynism is like a role or identity in social discourse.
A skeptic says, I do not believe but am willing to investigate.
A cynic says, I do not believe and am not willing to investigate.
Sceptic: I hear what you're saying but I require some evidence first!
Cynic : Yeah but even with the evidence you still won't believe it !
I would have to say at times I'm a bit of both... but as they say... "Everything in moderation"