I am not a cynic even though my Pollyanna friends might use the term. I am a skeptic and there is a difference.
A cynic is negative, a skeptic neutral.
A cynic rejects everything, a skeptic questions everything.
A cynic sneers; a skeptic raises an eyebrow, if they can.
A cynic mocks, a skeptic listens
Cynics reject just about everything out of a spirit of superiority. A skeptic is open to any truth but wants to make sure it is truth and not deceit.
It is possible that the cynic and the skeptic may be in the same lifeboat leaving the same wreck but for different reasons. When the Salvation Army went woke the cynic laughed in delight and says, “I knew it all along.” The skeptic sheds a tear because he has done his homework and knows that this organization at one time was one of the good ones and now has been destroyed from within. Both walk away. One struts looking for the next to fall and the other plods, glancing back over the shoulder hoping there is some mitigating circumstance they missed.
A skeptic is not a pessimist, nor negative. A skeptic faces life with their brain engaged and their baloney meters on full gain.
The world needs more skeptics.
homo unius libri
Friday, October 28, 2022
Opus 2022-292: Cynic or Skeptic
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.