I'm cynical about cynicism

"Expect the worst and you won't be disappointed"

"Life's a bitch and then you die"

"If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong"

That first pessimistic proverb is an ambiguous sentence. A cynic is never disappointed, because they expect the worst. Well, it would be nice to never be disappointed wouldn't it? Think of the suffering you wouldn't have to endure.

The complications of the world are ambiguous, and often very annoying. When you're doing something risky and the chance of reward is ambiguous, often you get confused, which is an unpleasant feeling akin to panic. A cynic certainly doesn't have to feel that. It is frightening to be on the look out for something better, some excitement perhaps, you may have to leave cherished comforts behind. You may even lose them altogether. You may find yourself full of fear.

I don't think that we can uninvent our thoughts (well, without electric shocks, anyway). But a cynic is in danger of avoiding anything risky, and justifying it with their cynicism. Okay, nothing will go wrong, but the cynic is damned from the start - because s/he won't tolerate risk or ambiguity, s/he won't reap any reward, whilst also avoiding failure. Take a realistic (cynical if you like) look at the world. Are all happy people really stupid? Stupidity is no guarantee of happiness - plenty of stupid people are miserable.

Life might be a void that we have to fill with by discovering the pleasures of company, of work and more bodily pleasures. Often pleasure is far away and we have to find ways to endure - and often we don't find ways to endure. But that isn't the same as "Life's a bitch and then you die" there isn't any ambiguity in that sentence.

OF course, the answer lies with the Baby Jesus...just kidding

(c)tony jones 1999 - so don't pinch this and copy it into your self help book, other armchair psychologists (which, contrary to popular belief, isn't amateur psychology, the psychology of armchairs is a respectable discipline with a long history of verifiable research into the cognitive states of settees, sofas, couches, chaises-longues, futons and other soft furnishings).