Wouldn’t You Agree? #12
Q: What is the difference between a skeptic and a cynic?
A: A skeptic is someone who is reluctant to believe; a cynic is someone who refuses to believe.
A skeptic is someone who once believed and was disappointed and hurt; a cynic is someone who once believed and was deceived and betrayed.
But deep inside all skeptics and even most cynics is a deep ache to believe again but do it safely without the possibility of being disappointed, hurt, deceived or betrayed.
Wouldn’t You Agree?
Please share your comments below.
June 25th, 2012 at 10:49 am
I’d have to disagree with this one. A skeptic is someone who looks at evidence and concludes that the evidence doesn’t support the assertion being made.
June 27th, 2012 at 9:08 am
Excellent point Jim!
Thank you for adding that astute and incisive and thought provoking observation.
I think you may also mean discerning. To me discerning means carefully assessing to see that the evidence matches the assertion being made, skeptical is similar, but has a bit of the “guilty until proven innocent quality.” Discerning means stepping in and eliciting all relevant evidence to then make an informed decision; skeptical means holding back and still challenging the person to prove it to you.
June 30th, 2012 at 10:13 pm
Words are interesting things – a lot of times meaning depends on context.
“Discerning” does often relate to the application of judgement. However, it’s important in applying judgement to be aware of cognitive biases that may predispose one to apply things like confirmation bias to one’s observations and interpretations.
But it is possible to be skeptical of something without challenging someone else to prove something to you. Indeed, a lot of people who are skeptical of controversial topics (such as climate change) describe themselves as “skeptics” (“non-believers” is one I’ve heard in this context as well) but in reality they tend not to be challenging an “opponent” to convince them – they don’t want to be convinced. In many cases, they’ve looked at the data and applied a personal bias to the interpretation of the data, and have invested themselves so heavily in their position that they’re extremely unlikely to feel safe in acknowledging they were incorrect.
Put another way, some people do tend to think of being skeptical about something as being a position that is not changeable – at least that’s been my experience.
In other instances, some consider a skeptical position to be one that is highly unlikely to change. Richard Dawkins’ skepticism about the existence of a deity or supernatural explanation for the universe or life comes to mind.
July 8th, 2012 at 4:22 pm
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