Cynics are secretly raging idealists. Don't tell anyone, though...
When reading my web site, you may think that I’m misanthropic - that is to say, that I hate people in general. Why do you always complain, you say. Why do you run a collab project like Slouching Toward Bethlehem when you seem to believe that no one can make a difference, you wonder. Wonder no more - you’ve hit on the secret of the Cynics.
Misanthropy is different from cynicism, but they are often confused. Basic definitions of the words don’t clear things up much:
Misanthropy /mis-AN-thro-pi/ n. hatred or mistrust of humankind
Cynicism /SIN-i-sis-m/ n. An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others
Those two definitions seem to convey the same idea, but the key word is in the definition of cynicism. It’s defined as "an attitude". Cynicism is a defensive coping mechanism, not a bone-deep belief.
The Despising versus The Disgusted
Misanthropists, well, hate people. They dislike how people act, they dislike what people say, they dislike just about everything about people - both individuals and societies. They don’t necessarily want to see everyone dead and societies washed away, but they’d rather not interact with them at all. Misanthropists don’t really believe that humankind is of much value. They don’t believe in anything like the redeemability of humankind. I can’t tell you much more about misanthropists because I amn’t one. (I don’t think that even the misanthropic bitch is a true misanthrope - what misanthrope would bother writing a web page as vituperatively entertaining as this one for a bunch of wastes of skin?) Cynics - true Cynics in the grand old tradition of Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Epictetus - are idealists who are rather disappointed in the world around them. We get mad, we rant and rave, we mutter unnice things about the oxygen thieves with whom we share the planet, but we still believe that people can change for the better - and tend to become . When we consciously stop and think about a situation, we will admit that we expect the worst behaviour of other people. But deep down, we really honestly believe that other people are noble and good, and will do the right thing almost reflexively. No matter how often we meet new people, go to new places, or encounter new situations, we believe that this time things will be better. You can almost see the cartoon bubbles coming out of our ears that read, "Oh, boy, this is going to be great! I’ll be with other people who want to do things right and want to make things better!" If you actually act in a highly honourable fashion and work with us, we cynics will respond with an almost puppylike enthusiasm. Like Agent Fox Mulder, we want to believe. Problem is, everyone is so busy living down to expectations that we…well…become rather embittered. This gets us into a boatload of trouble.
Oops, I did it again
When I started my contract with a chip manufacturing company headquartered in Burnaby BC Canada, I saw lots of areas where I could contribute toward making their human resources intranet run better-stronger-faster. I was anxious to work on their learning intranet, which they were just launching. I envisioned cleaning up their directory structure, making the sites easier to use and easier to maintain, and helping the folks in the cubicles learn the basics of editing the content pieces themselves so that they wouldn’t be dependent on a developer to make little spelling changes or minor text tweaks. Instead I ran headlong into a passive-aggressive wall of department director and the underlings who feared her. My advice was ignored time and again, and sure enough, they got feedback from the corporate IT group saying "This needs changed and this isn’t usable and this causes problems." You’d think that after being an IT contractor for just under a decade, I would have learned by now. But no. This is another of the hallmarks of a true Cynic. We don’t stop hoping and believing, no matter how many times we get schmakked in the face.
Keywords: | philosophy | misanthropy | Cynicism |
Posted by Laughing Muse • 620 views • Share this link • Newer • Older
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