This is not the End of Cynicism

"There is no cynicism to be seen anywhere tonight," I heard that somewhere on TV yesterday, maybe CNN or BBC or whatever I was watching at the time. "It is the end of cynicism."

Unless you've been living under a rock, I'm assuming everyone knows what happened last night. And yes it's a historic victory, the world has changed, blah blah... BUT.

• California voted to ban gay marriage (53%)
• Florida voted to ban gay marriage (62%!)
• Arkansas voted to ban "unwed" adoptions (57%)

Overall a huge loss for same-sex rights. The end of cynicism? I think not.


But I think a certain amount of cynicism is necessary in life, and the lack of it can sometimes be detrimental. Think of the belief, for example, that if you love someone you wouldn't WANT to think about anybody else. This is one of the core beliefs about love that a lot of people have. Another one is that "love" is a supernaturally noble feeling that should never be questioned. Imagine, then, when someone who holds all these beliefs suddenly finds him/herself thinking about that other person: they will then question their feelings for their partner and feel that somehow they have to yield to this noble feeling of love for this new person by either cheating or splitting up with their partner. Whereas if you are a cynic you will understand that having an interest in other people is a healthy part of any relationship, and you will just think away, not beat yourself up about it, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Okay, that was a massive tangent, and oversimplified at best -- but it is one example among many. To sum up, I don't think cynicism is about judging people's motivations, quite the opposite in fact -- it's understanding that our own motivations are never as pure as we want them to be. We're only human, of course, so maybe cynicism shouldn't be viewed so negatively after all.