Ancient Cynicism was a philosophy of virtue, simplicity and moral independence—not pessimism. Perhaps that’s exactly what ...

Did you ever notice how emotions flow through society from person to person, from group to group, because of the effects of emotional contagion? Emotions have run high in the past few years. They ...

Poll after poll shows Americans' trust in government and one another is historically low. Faith in institutions is abysmal and interpersonal confidence has worsened. Ratings of scientists have now ...

All politicians are venal and corrupt, so supporting one over the other is pointless. The media always lies; never believe anything you hear on the news. Putin has infiltrated social media so ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. (Maggie Chiang / For The Times) If you feel certain your preferred candidate will lose the presidential election, that AI is ...

We all know someone — maybe it’s a friend, a co-worker, a family member — who always manages to be the voice of doom. The person who always knows that something is pointless or won’t succeed. If no ...

Cynical people tend to have a greater stress response, which can lead to inflammation Your spouse “had to stay late at work” – are you skeptical? Do you think your friend doesn’t like you if he ...

Connie Schultz’s recent piece on the dangerous lure of cynicism is worth the read. I try to think of cynicism as coming in two flavors. One is stylistic, working mostly at the surface level. It’s the ...

Cynics fall into the same category as Marines (if you're feeling charitable) and cheaters (if you're not) in that there's no such thing as an ex-cynic. But I'm doing my best: I'm a recovering cynic.

Cynicism is a belief that humans are self-interested and immoral. Cynicism was once seen as radical, now is largely viewed as corrosive. Cynicism in large doses is unhealthy, but in some forms may be ...