A primer on informed agnosticism
Cynicism - why the bad rap?
Cynicism gets lumped with these labels of do-nothingness, laziness or with pessimism altogether. And I don't think that's fair or true. You can be a cynic, and wholeheartedly idealist; I want to try and rescue cynicism from these do-nothingness/laziness/pessimism labels that it's been attached with.
Cynicism is basically a form of informed agnosticism: it's not saying as the pessimist does, 'the world is never going to get better' or as the optimist does, 'the world is always going to get better'; it does not seek to ask or answer that question. You can be a cynic, and still give a full-faith effort to try things out.
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2 comments:
yeah lumping cynicism with agnosticism, however accurate, is not going to 'save' cynicism.
I'm not really trying to 'save' cynicism; all i'm hoping to do is some clarificatory groundwork.
I mean, i'm certainly not advocating that more people be cynical (though it probably wouldn't hurt). I'm just saying don't rag on it for misunderstood reasons/assumptions.
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