Society breeding cynicism

I was going to write w hole post on how society at the moment breeds cynicism. However, I came across this article which summarises the point exceptionally well. I think some of the good main points in this article are that cynicism can be mistaken now for intelligence, or in some other ways to be cynical is to be cool, or to know a lot about what is happening in the world. But as the author points out, we are not living in an age of anxiety any longer, it is an age of cynicism.

How to measure cynicism

-        When it comes to measuring cynicism, the easiest way to measure it is through measuring trust. However, trust is not always an indicator of cynicism. People can trust but be cynical at the same time and likewise people can  distrust and not be cynical either. But to measure trust, there are some key things to look for. 

-        Aspects of trust that can be measure can include predictability, the ability to fulfill promises, overall honesty and evaluations about why a person or group of people engage in behaviours. 

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        So when it comes to education, examining predictability, examining the ability to fulfill promises, considering overall honesty and evaluating a persons motives can either build trust or distrust. Being critical in regards to these aspects are important, however, a teacher must be careful not to build cynicism. 

cynicism in schools.

http://managementhelp.org/personalwellness/cynicism/

This article here provides a very good overview of how cynicism occurs within the business management sector, however, many of the comments lend themselves to how students think and work too. Firstly, they mention how cynics see their view as realistic, and that the attitude can be a way to ‘indulge in anger and resentment’ leading to acting out. This behaviour, acting out, being angry at others (or having weird emotions) being resentful towards others etc. is quite typical of every teenager. Hence, they may find it easier to be more cynical of government, media, organisations etc. because for them, emotionally, it is easier to be angry and not trust others while they try to form their identity than it is to become trustworthy.

However, as the article mentions, this attitude becomes dangerous when it becomes a means of emotional protection. When students blame something other than themselves for their own failings.

Within the current generation of students, this attitude can sometimes appear as a lack of work ethic because they feel that education is not valuable, and you can get by in life without it. It appears in the arguments and discussion had within classrooms about ethics and morals and the discussion is fuelled with understandings from students developed from their interaction with the media and parents. It appears when students go through trauma and feel they can’t trust the systems in place to support them.

defining cynicism

Hello out there, my name is Alice, and in this blog I am going to explore the concept of cynicism, and especially how it impacts on education.

Firstly, I want to explore the various definitions of cynicism, and looking at what cynicism really means. It first became apparent to me during the National Student Leadership Forum in Australia that young people especially are cynical by nature due to various environmental factors impacting on their lives and that sometimes, it is not good to be cynical, and rather we should be trusting. So cynicism is:

“An inclination to believe that people are motivated by self-interest; skepticism”

I think my Dad is the biggest cynic of them all, or maybe all dads are? But one thing that I would argue against this definition of cynicism is that of the word ‘people’ I would think that in the 21^st century, perhaps this should be groups or people, organisations, the media and governments. Cynicism now extends far beyond a single person.

The second definition I came across was quite the same; “an attitude of suspicion where you believe the future is bleak and that people are acting only out of self-interest”

Again, I think it needs to be extended. Self-interest should include the interest of the greatest shareholders of companies, greed, and the interest of the majority and the minority (I will come back to this topic in a later blog). I love the ‘future is bleak’ part in that definition. Isn’t that so typical now of the whole of society? Everything is negative (and I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, it is quite realistic), However, if the attitude was more positive, perhaps, maybe outcomes would be different.

An example came with this definition, which was that “when you always think the worst and have a hard time seeing the good in anyone (anything).” I think this is the most dangerous part of cynicism, is that there is a threat to the person’s general perceptions about everything. If young people especially go around every day, with the negative, cynical thoughts about the government that have been projected on them from everywhere, no wonder they have a difficult time finding positive things to think.

The final definition I found was “an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of other.” I love the words ‘distrust’ in this one- we are generally distrusting things. I also love the word integrity here- it’s not necessarily the motives, but also, whether their motives will be upheld.