Disclaimer
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2009
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent anyone else's view in any way, including those of my employer.
© Copyright 2009
Apparently there are some that think that lost now found hiker, Jamie Neal, had staged it all. This was discussed on Richard Glover’s show which I was listening to fighting my way through the homeward bound traffic this afternoon.
This story was being discussed by three journos and Richard. The idea that Neal had faked all this was attributed to a rise in cynicism. Now I have no idea if society is experiencing more cynicism than usual. But there was a comment that implied children are taught to be cynical at school.
This comment is perplexing as I believe that the person responsible has conflated cynicism with skepticism. They are indeed very different.
Been a long time since I’ve been to school but I do hope that students are still taught how to critically evaluate both writing and speech. It is a positive skill that opens you to inquiry and knowledge. This leads to skepticism. And as skepticism is just as much as it is an investigation to determine the truth, it is also open to being wrong and subsequently changing one’s views if indeed this is the case. Cynicism is quite a negative, jaded view of the world that tends to reaffirm prejudices and not lead one to knowledge.
A cynical world is not a progressive place. However, healthy skepticism is something to be encouraged.
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1:08 pm - July 16th, 2009
[...] Skepticism v Cynicism [...]