I've actually been thinking about sarcasm quite a bit. I think there are some healthy and unhealthy ways to pull it off. I shall put this on this year's schedule of things to think about!
1. As a Millennial....yeah that's my bad. We've been a great generation at identifying issues and a terrible generation for doing anything about them. I've now worked in K-12 education for several years and one of my biggest takeaways is that younger generations than mine are going to do a lot of good. That's awesome.
2. I love that the call to fighting cynicism is not naivete, but sincerity. Or as the modern prophet Jon Batiste says:
"Tell it like it is,
Love how you live
When you're doing what you do
Tell the truth"
3. I wonder why exactly people try to associate prophets with fortune-telling or seeing the future, when Biblical prophets were messengers of accountability. I guess we humans are always good at missing the point.
4. As I'm writing this far-too-long comment (my bad) I'm also now realizing that sincerity goes hand-in-hand quite a bit with accountability and and encouragement.
Another great article, thanks for writing it. I'll be chewing on this one for the rest of the week.
Brilliant piece Griffin! As I am currently preparing a keynote speech for the Doomer Optimism Gathering, I resonated deeply with your rejection of cynicism in favor of hope. The essays on Substack that go insanely viral are frequently a cynic take on current culture or forsee imminent doom, but most often fail to provide hope. Hope and sincerity do not get as many "clicks". But in the long run this stance is draining and dead; only a hopeful perspective can produce life.
Thanks also for this piece of gold: “The evil of the pessimist is, then, not that he chastises gods and men, but that he does not love what he chastises.”
Yes I've noticed that tendency as well. But while there's a huge quick burst of attention for extremist, cynical, or hot takes, I do think many readers (especially on substack) crave more middle grounded and nuanced opinions as well. It might not go as viral or receive attention as quickly, but I have to imagine that these kinds of pieces will eventually bring about some kind of good for a specific group of people, even if it's not as click-baity. Thanks for your comments and your continual kindness, Ruth!
As a current cynic who would love to be pulled out of my own doom-scrolling head, this is really good, welcome stuff and what I needed to read. It reminds me of Tolkien's encouragement to his son Michael in Letter #250: "The greater part of truth is always hidden , in regions out of the reach of cynicism" .
It reminds me of the scene of Sam seeing the clouds roll back over Mordor as he sees a single beautiful star, that had a beauty that "smote his heart"
This was such a needed piece especially in times like these! I enjoyed reading every bit of it (and tried to restack it with quotes as much as I could lol)
Something that I so heavily related to was when you had said “….but we do have to remind ourselves that pessimism, hopelessness, and fear are not Christian habits of mind” it’s especially hard for me rid myself of a pessimistic, hopeless, and fearful mindset even as being a Christian, and knowing that our hope is not found in the world but in Jesus alone. Jesus never promised that the world and our lives would be all sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops but that through Him and knowing Him we could still experience goodness, beauty and love in its purest forms and I think that’s something that I definitely need to remind myself of and be joyful of, so thank you for that message!!
I think you would enjoy the song "Cynic Clinic" by Bash 'N the Code. And yes, I went to their concert and heard it live when I was in Junior High in the 80s. I, too, am a recovering perfectionist/cynic. The more recent lyrics from "I Don't Want to Lose Touch" by Will Reagan and United Pursuit have become some of my anthems in this regard -
Thanks so much for sharing this ~ it was a very timely message. I appreciated your comment on how cynicism merely is an acknowledgement of existing challenges, but it does not offer solutions or the care to properly assist with addressing those challenges. A recent piece I wrote on tragic optimism echos a similar sentiment and discusses the cognitive rigor required to maintain a positive mindset, despite a variety of challenges and setbacks. I also thought it was interesting how you juxtaposed cynicism with not only idealism but also sincerity, as it is often the fear of criticism that keeps people from expressing themselves authentically and can sometimes become a barrier to true connection, including connection with ourselves and with our divine nature as children of God. This correlates to some extent with the three different forms of isolation in existentialist psychology, which I find to be incredibly interesting.
"The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10. It's not the judgment of the Lord or the exasperation of the Lord or some other emotion. It's the joy of the Lord.
There's definitely something blokeish about cynicism - kind of goes with banter / sarcasm / clever-cleverness, which suggests to me that sensitive little boys are sneered at and learn to veil their emotions. Anyone who embraces post-cynicism and relearns joy and earnestness has my full respect.
I was literally just this morning reading the 1st and 2nd chapters of Philippians in my personal devotional time. I was disproportionately annoyed with Paul's assertion that the character and motives of the preacher don't matter as long as the preaching is true, but this helped quell my annoyance.
Thanks for gathering much wisdom in an easy to follow way.
The 'cynicism is smart' myth has a lot of pull with me, still. I've been helped by this recently: John 11, at Lazarus's tomb, a moment of cynicism contrasted with Jesus' compassion.
'Jesus wept. So the Jews said, 'See how he loved him. But some of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?'
Why's this guy crying over something he could have easily prevented? What a hypocrite!
That's the kind of thought my mind goes to so quickly and naturally, and something I hear daily from others. Better to be a cryer.
Insincerity is definitely 'in' these days. My Gen Z peers are genuinely surprised whenever I use a fancy word unironically. I watched The Best Years of Our Lives recently, and that movie bleeds sincerity to the point where I think a different species inhabited Earth in the 1940s.
Love this. I was writing in a similar vein where cynicism leads to overly complicated and esoteric philosophies because truth is simple, and simple is seen as cringe.
The truth is more likely to be found on a New York street corner scrawled on a cardboard sign than in an academic thesis, and more likely to be met with eyerolls than applause.
I'm looking forward to you building a theology around sarcasm some day.
I've actually been thinking about sarcasm quite a bit. I think there are some healthy and unhealthy ways to pull it off. I shall put this on this year's schedule of things to think about!
Many thoughts do I have
1. As a Millennial....yeah that's my bad. We've been a great generation at identifying issues and a terrible generation for doing anything about them. I've now worked in K-12 education for several years and one of my biggest takeaways is that younger generations than mine are going to do a lot of good. That's awesome.
2. I love that the call to fighting cynicism is not naivete, but sincerity. Or as the modern prophet Jon Batiste says:
"Tell it like it is,
Love how you live
When you're doing what you do
Tell the truth"
3. I wonder why exactly people try to associate prophets with fortune-telling or seeing the future, when Biblical prophets were messengers of accountability. I guess we humans are always good at missing the point.
4. As I'm writing this far-too-long comment (my bad) I'm also now realizing that sincerity goes hand-in-hand quite a bit with accountability and and encouragement.
Another great article, thanks for writing it. I'll be chewing on this one for the rest of the week.
Wonderful reflections Joseph! Thanks for sharing them and for reading! I appreciate you immensely.
Brilliant piece Griffin! As I am currently preparing a keynote speech for the Doomer Optimism Gathering, I resonated deeply with your rejection of cynicism in favor of hope. The essays on Substack that go insanely viral are frequently a cynic take on current culture or forsee imminent doom, but most often fail to provide hope. Hope and sincerity do not get as many "clicks". But in the long run this stance is draining and dead; only a hopeful perspective can produce life.
Thanks also for this piece of gold: “The evil of the pessimist is, then, not that he chastises gods and men, but that he does not love what he chastises.”
Yes I've noticed that tendency as well. But while there's a huge quick burst of attention for extremist, cynical, or hot takes, I do think many readers (especially on substack) crave more middle grounded and nuanced opinions as well. It might not go as viral or receive attention as quickly, but I have to imagine that these kinds of pieces will eventually bring about some kind of good for a specific group of people, even if it's not as click-baity. Thanks for your comments and your continual kindness, Ruth!
As a current cynic who would love to be pulled out of my own doom-scrolling head, this is really good, welcome stuff and what I needed to read. It reminds me of Tolkien's encouragement to his son Michael in Letter #250: "The greater part of truth is always hidden , in regions out of the reach of cynicism" .
It reminds me of the scene of Sam seeing the clouds roll back over Mordor as he sees a single beautiful star, that had a beauty that "smote his heart"
Beautiful reflection! I love that Tolkien quote. Simply wonderful! Thanks Andrew!
Honestly the whole of Letter 250 is worth the price of admission
This was such a needed piece especially in times like these! I enjoyed reading every bit of it (and tried to restack it with quotes as much as I could lol)
Something that I so heavily related to was when you had said “….but we do have to remind ourselves that pessimism, hopelessness, and fear are not Christian habits of mind” it’s especially hard for me rid myself of a pessimistic, hopeless, and fearful mindset even as being a Christian, and knowing that our hope is not found in the world but in Jesus alone. Jesus never promised that the world and our lives would be all sunshine, rainbows, and lollipops but that through Him and knowing Him we could still experience goodness, beauty and love in its purest forms and I think that’s something that I definitely need to remind myself of and be joyful of, so thank you for that message!!
I'm so happy you enjoyed it! Blessings to you!
I think you would enjoy the song "Cynic Clinic" by Bash 'N the Code. And yes, I went to their concert and heard it live when I was in Junior High in the 80s. I, too, am a recovering perfectionist/cynic. The more recent lyrics from "I Don't Want to Lose Touch" by Will Reagan and United Pursuit have become some of my anthems in this regard -
"I'd rather be a fool than a cynic
Fly up and touch the moon
I'd rather be in love than enlightеned
Heart that bleeds into the room"
hahaha sounds great! I'll definitely have to check that out! Thanks Elizabeth!
Thanks so much for sharing this ~ it was a very timely message. I appreciated your comment on how cynicism merely is an acknowledgement of existing challenges, but it does not offer solutions or the care to properly assist with addressing those challenges. A recent piece I wrote on tragic optimism echos a similar sentiment and discusses the cognitive rigor required to maintain a positive mindset, despite a variety of challenges and setbacks. I also thought it was interesting how you juxtaposed cynicism with not only idealism but also sincerity, as it is often the fear of criticism that keeps people from expressing themselves authentically and can sometimes become a barrier to true connection, including connection with ourselves and with our divine nature as children of God. This correlates to some extent with the three different forms of isolation in existentialist psychology, which I find to be incredibly interesting.
Wonderful reflections! I particularly enjoyed your last idea that correlates with existentialist psychology. I'll be thinking that over for awhile!
"The joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10. It's not the judgment of the Lord or the exasperation of the Lord or some other emotion. It's the joy of the Lord.
There's definitely something blokeish about cynicism - kind of goes with banter / sarcasm / clever-cleverness, which suggests to me that sensitive little boys are sneered at and learn to veil their emotions. Anyone who embraces post-cynicism and relearns joy and earnestness has my full respect.
agreed! Thanks for reading Stephanie!
I was literally just this morning reading the 1st and 2nd chapters of Philippians in my personal devotional time. I was disproportionately annoyed with Paul's assertion that the character and motives of the preacher don't matter as long as the preaching is true, but this helped quell my annoyance.
hahaha it's such a convicting verse! It's highly complex too and difficult to wrap our minds around. Thanks for reading Travis!
This is a battle cry!
Thanks Taylor!!
Thanks for gathering much wisdom in an easy to follow way.
The 'cynicism is smart' myth has a lot of pull with me, still. I've been helped by this recently: John 11, at Lazarus's tomb, a moment of cynicism contrasted with Jesus' compassion.
'Jesus wept. So the Jews said, 'See how he loved him. But some of them said, 'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?'
Why's this guy crying over something he could have easily prevented? What a hypocrite!
That's the kind of thought my mind goes to so quickly and naturally, and something I hear daily from others. Better to be a cryer.
Ooo this is a wonderful thought! Thanks for sharing Jon!
Insincerity is definitely 'in' these days. My Gen Z peers are genuinely surprised whenever I use a fancy word unironically. I watched The Best Years of Our Lives recently, and that movie bleeds sincerity to the point where I think a different species inhabited Earth in the 1940s.
Interesting! I'll have to check out that movie! I like the sound of it. Thanks for reading Diego!
Love this. I was writing in a similar vein where cynicism leads to overly complicated and esoteric philosophies because truth is simple, and simple is seen as cringe.
The truth is more likely to be found on a New York street corner scrawled on a cardboard sign than in an academic thesis, and more likely to be met with eyerolls than applause.
wow that last line is beautiful and hauntingly true. Thanks for sharing it Conor!
As a recovering cynic, thank you!
Of course! Blessings to you!
This was the worst by which I mean it was maddeningly timely and now I am going to have to do something about it.
Hahahaha oh man...apologies Sarah!