I am an organization development consultant who offers a
workshop called "Transcending Cynicism at Work." I
was curious why one might want to glorify and revel in the
state of cynicism. I imagine there are big bucks to be made.
Dilbert certainly is doing well.
I fully acknowledge my own temptation towards cynicism.
That’s where I spent most of my teen and adult life...
Yet, when I hit my mid-thirties, I found that cynicism is
not a place I want to spend much time anymore. I find it so
ineffective.
As you point out, it springs forth from idealism for a
better world, and a "wounded childlike soul." Yet,
you seem to overlook that it’s also a cowardly stance
taken by wounded children and adults who back away from the
work involved in, or accepting responsibility for, healing
their wounds... But, rather than face the "truth"
about ourselves (for which you seem to be a big advocate),
that we’re too scared to do the self-healing and
relationship-building needed to make the world better, we
opt for the path of least resistance -- blame, ridicule,
mockery, sarcasm, righteous indignation and cynicism.
Cynicism has grown too popular. It’s chic. And, it has
undermined human dignity. It seems it was in my generation
(the hippie era) that cynicism grew rapidly in popularity.
We grew up in affluence and developed a sense of entitlement
and righteous indignation towards the creations of our
parents. We’ve now given birth to two more generations
that feel even more entitled and indignant.
I’m working to raise awareness of the wasteful
destructive nature of cynicism in our lives. If you’ve
ever been at the deathbed of a cynic (my father was one) you’ll
know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s not a pretty
sight.
With complete sincerity, though, I do hope that somewhere
within your site you balance your message with the negative
consequences for over-indulging in cynicism. I think you owe
it to humanity to at least acknowledge there are alternative
(perhaps more efficacious) approaches to effecting
constructive change in the world. Perhaps a warning from the
Surgeon General as to the health hazards. Believe it or not,
there are impressionable and gullible minds on the Internet.
Dear Duane,
Thank you for your civil and heartfelt critique. You have
every right to question this professional cynic’s motives,
beliefs and spiritual underpinnings. You have every right to
question cynicism itself. I’ll try to answer you without
my customary verbal mischief, because your thoughtful
inquiry deserves an equally thoughtful reply.
You mention the health hazards of cynicism. It’s true
that we cynics seem to have been singled out by the gods for
vexatious bodily infirmities and premature visits to the
mortician, at least if you believe the medical studies on
the subject. Cynics are reputed to keel over from coronary
disease at three or four times the rate of non-cynics. I’d
suspect that much of the longevity gap is a matter of cynics
ignoring their doctors’ pleas to stop smoking, gulping
down martinis or engaging in stressful activities like
sticking their fingers into empty light-sockets. But it
wouldn’t surprise me if part of that gap could indeed be
attributed to the detrimental physiological effects of
chronic ranting and alienation. Our accursed sense of
futility probably sends unconscious "abort"
messages to various body parts. A robust congenital optimist
like former President Reagan can eat all the Italian sausage
he desires without apparent harm to his sun-dappled
arteries; by contrast, the hardened heart of a cynic is
likely to give notice even after a fifty-year diet of bean
sprouts and parsnips. We disillusioned idealists turn to
potting soil while the Contented Ones live to tickle the
chins of their great-grandchildren; their enchanted lives
are not only longer but happier than ours. The
injustice of it is, of course, enough to make a cynic even
more cynical.
I can tell you from experience that cynicism is hardly a
profitable venture. For every "Dilbert" raking in
the megabucks you could probably count a thousand ill-clad
cynics howling from the deep obscurity of their homemade
websites. My own Cynic’s Dictionary sold roughly
23,000 copies -- hardcover and paperback combined -- then
quickly vanished from the bookstores after receiving scant
publicity and fewer reviews than the average Lebanese
cookbook. Six years later, it clings to the merest
shadow-existence in publishing limbo, still officially in
print but partially remaindered and critically endangered,
with perhaps a few hundred copies left before it quietly
goes extinct like some obscure species of Peruvian
butterfly. Nobody has approached me to write a Cynic’s
Encyclopedia, a Cynic’s Almanac or even a Cynic’s
Guide to Outrageous Salaries in Business, Sports and
Entertainment. Cynics aren’t exactly voracious
book-buyers; after all, I’m writing for an audience of
readers who despise consumerism.
By contrast, American bookstores are drowning in Chicken
Soup; at last count this cheerfully clucking industry had
spawned no less than 238 individual titles, and the
possibilities for yet more permutations continue to bubble
in the cauldron: we can probably look forward to Chicken
Soup for the Transvestite Lumberjack’s Soul at some
point on the near horizon. American readers keep fattening
the bank accounts of feel-good writers, though I submit that
if any of their books actually worked, the public wouldn’t
need to keep buying more of them.
I would even question your assumption that cynicism is
chic. Yes, a fashionable brand of sitcom-inspired sarcasm
has taken root throughout the grand republic, featuring a
glut of smirky irony, drop-dead putdowns and nationally
televised penis jokes. You see it in those greeting cards
with the sardonic cat-women on the covers; you see it in the
hipper-than-thou jottings of countless online scribes. I
wouldn’t dignify this cultural phenomenon with the name of
cynicism. It’s not my cup of tea, and a true cynic would
recoil at the glibness of it. It’s much too fashionable,
much too insiderish, much too slick. Cynicism may be acerbic
but it isn’t shallow. Jonathan Swift was a cynic; Mark
Twain was a cynic; I suspect that Jerry Seinfeld and David
Spade are merely successful careerists. Call it the triumph
of the snide.
True cynicism is a lament for the loss of ideals, the
decline of standards, the destruction of virtue. We cynics
observe the sorry state of current human affairs, we feel
the loss deep in our innards, and we attempt to recapture
some of our dignity by sniping at the sources of our
disgruntlement. Why don’t we do MORE than snipe, you ask?
Why do we groan and grumble and roll our eyes rather than
jump into the boggy trenches and fight for our beliefs? Are
we cowards or just noncommittal sluggards who can’t stand
to get our hands dirty? Sure, we could take a more active
role in public affairs; we could charge out there like
latter-day Rough Riders and campaign for voter registration
or equal rights for indigenous Arctic peoples. That would be
fine and admirable, and we probably SHOULD exert more effort
to change things that can be changed. But we know there’s
nothing we can do to fix the problems that really chafe our
sensitive hides: that society’s rewards so often go to the
wrong people, that the bad tends to drive out the good, that
we suffer for clinging to noble convictions, that dogs die
young, poets die poor and investment bankers die
ridiculously rich without producing much of value. Most
normal folks adjust to these harsh realities the way zoo
animals adjust to their cages. They’re realists. We resist
those easy adjustments, not out of choice but out of a
naturally unbending temperament. We’re cynics. What we can’t
change and can’t accept, we have to be cynical about.
Cynicism may be ineffective as a long-term solution, but
at least it provides short-term comic relief. By laughing at
the sources of our woes, we gain some satisfaction, a sense
of control and the sweet taste of harmless revenge. For me,
writing The Cynic’s Dictionary was an uninterrupted
joy from A to Zzzz ("the sound produced by those who
have attempted to read this entire dictionary at one
sitting"). Creating an online sanctuary for my fellow
cynics has been even more deeply rewarding; somehow I’ve
managed to attract an international assortment of
good-natured, articulate, funny, quirky, irascible,
sometimes brilliant, surprisingly caring souls. And those
are just the ones I’ve met in that communal tent known as
the Cynic’s Message Board. The vast majority of my
visitors come and go in silent anonymity, perusing my
definitions, lingering over my tirades, lurking invisibly in
public forums, exploring the Cynics’ Hall of Fame and
other features that evidently give them solace and a sense
of comradeship. As a former cynic yourself, you probably
know that the soul of a cynic tends toward melancholy
without the pleasure of kindred spirits. I’m often thanked
by visitors who tell me, "I didn’t know there were
other people who felt the way I do." That kind of
response warms my chilly heart, but I’d better change the
subject before I lose my credibility as a cynic.
You’ve asserted that we cynics blame others for the
ills of society, without looking inward for the sources of
those ills. You’ve made a valid point; I can’t dispute
the notion that we’re brimming with blame, and that we
generally point our fingers at the outside world. But have
you noticed that politicians, corporate leaders and other
productive citizens almost invariably blame cynics for THEIR
problems? They dislike us because we carp and cavil and
create discord. Fair enough; if I were a politician or a
CEO, I might be wary of cynics, too. We’re thinkers and
watchers, not doers. We’re not inclined to lead, follow or
get out of the way. It would be more convenient, of course,
if we did get out of the way. As it is, we observe the
faults and follies of the appointed potentates, often in
silence -- but they know we’re on to them. We cynics are a
perpetual thorn in the side of leadership. You’d think
they might appreciate us for keeping them honest. You’d
think our thorny presence might persuade them to examine
their own motives and appetites. But no, they simply revile
us and enjoy denouncing us from the pulpit.
I can understand how politicians and other energized
citizens might scowl at the cynics in their midst. I can
comprehend how they might regard us as alien and undesirable
life-forms. But I can’t condone the way society has
twisted the very definition of cynicism to cast us in the
role of black-hatted villains. How often we hear indignant
phrases like "cynical manipulators," how often we
hear cynicism coupled in the same sentence with beady-eyed
avarice or defective ethics! The implication is that we not
only observe the naked self-interest beneath so much human
behavior, but that we actively promote it. The fact that we
observe shoddiness in public conduct should in no way imply
that we EMBRACE shoddiness. Some of us, tired of watching
the bad boys walk off with the loot, might eventually
succumb to their corrupting influence. But a good cynic is
an honest critic, not a shyster or a charlatan. I don’t
know how or when we earned a reputation for unsavory ethics,
but I can tell you that such an assertion would rattle the
bones of old Diogenes. Those so-called "cynical
manipulators" (a term generally used to describe
advertising and marketing professionals, but just as
applicable to politicians) aren’t cynics at all; they’re
zealous opportunists. They’re connivers and immoralists.
They exhibit the very traits that cynics criticize and
lament, traits that would have been anathema to the virtuous
ancient Cynics from whom we claim our descent. We cynics
aren’t motivated enough to be zealous about anything, and
we generally have too much integrity to connive.
That infernal sense of integrity. Without it we would
have been able to compromise our toplofty standards, to
glide across the ocean of life as streamlined and
well-centered vessels. As it is, we smart from the violence
of the wind and waves; only our cynicism cushions us from
the buffeting.
You ask why I would spread the gospel of cynicism --
especially to the young, especially with the knowledge that
a cynic’s life can be short, unprofitable and full of woe.
Fair question. Am I a corrupter of youth? Should I be
condemned to drink hemlock? You should understand that my
role is to spread comfort and cheer to the already-cynical,
not to win fresh converts. The people who discover my site
have already had their ideals yanked out from under them, or
they wouldn’t have sought me out in the first place. Young
cynics tend to be alienated; I offer them congenial
comradeship and recognition of their discontents. Young
cynics tend to engage in mockery and derision to hide their
hurt; I try to show them my own brand of "kinder,
gentler cynicism." I like to think I help them ripen
into mature and soulful cynics. Some of them will eventually
recover from their wounds; they might even recover their
lost ideals. I hope they do, and I’m happy to see them
resume lusty and productive lives. (Enthusiasm is a state of
mind I’ve never abandoned, even in the darkest days of my
own cynical career.) I’m not convinced that we need to be
cynics for life; for most of us, cynicism should be a
passing phase, like an afternoon thunderstorm: we need it to
relieve our parched souls, stimulate growth and deepen the
greenery of our minds.
I’d like to think my resident cynics will gain the
sustenance they need to face an uncertain (and often unkind)
world, succeed on their own terms and beget numerous hardy
offspring. To procreate is the ultimate act of faith; few
parents can afford to be cynics. But they’ll be better
parents if they’ve already been steeled by the knowledge
that all is not for the best in this most baffling of all
possible worlds. They’ll be forewarned that life is unfair
and that virtue doesn’t guarantee victory. A sturdy
foundation of cynicism will help them avoid the throes of
sudden reversals and sharp disappointments later in life.
They’ll know what they can expect, and they’ll be
happily surprised if it all works out.
When you lead your workshops on cynicism in the
workplace, I hope you’ll listen to the eternal gripes of
your attending cynics. You seem like a sympathetic soul, and
you’ve already passed through the fire-test of cynicism
yourself. Recognize that your corporate charges might be
cynical because the system pressures them into choosing
between their native integrity and the flashy benefits of
game-playing. They suspect that the game-players win, and
they’re mostly right. You can acknowledge their cynicism
without encouraging them to wallow in it. Companies can
learn from their cynics-in-residence. If employees are
critical of excessive executive perks and stock options...
if they snicker at the inflated and humorless jargon of
corporate mission statements... if they take umbrage at the
implicit hypocrisy of "team" management (some
teammates are more equal than others, of course)... if they
resent the long hours and the steady encroachment of work
into what used to be known as private life... then you’ve
got some serious listening to do. So do their managers. The
current work climate will continue to breed cynicism like
malaria unless the people in power recognize that human
resources shouldn’t be exploited in the manner of
milk-cows or wood pulp.
Well, Duane, I’ve rambled long enough. I hope you’ve
found my words enlightening or at least entertaining. I have
faith that your workshop will be productive and humane;
after all, your stated goal is to "transcend"
cynicism at work, not to squelch it or banish the naysayers
into outer darkness. I invite you to rummage around my site
at your leisure. If I can satisfy myself that I’ve
influenced someone as potentially influential as you, even
by adding just a few brushstrokes to your canvas, I’ll be
one satisfied cynic. I might even consider posting a Surgeon
General’s warning about the alleged health hazards of
cynicism somewhere on my site -- though I hope you don’t
mind if I post it in fine print.
Best regards,
Rick Bayan
