Dr. Jamil Zaki

And then immediately this sort of movement for greater egalitarianism was shut down by Soviet rule. And the country became much more despotic, really. And so Havel then was imprisoned and lived for years in jail. And he wrote about how cynicism was at the root

of this sort of authoritarian state, that the thing that helps regimes to control people is if they can convince people that nobody else wants change, right? So for instance, if you, and he wrote this beautiful essay called The Power of the Powerless, where he says, if you tell a butcher, if you force them on penalty of going to prison to hang a sign that

of this sort of authoritarian state, that the thing that helps regimes to control people is if they can convince people that nobody else wants change, right? So for instance, if you, and he wrote this beautiful essay called The Power of the Powerless, where he says, if you tell a butcher, if you force them on penalty of going to prison to hang a sign that

of this sort of authoritarian state, that the thing that helps regimes to control people is if they can convince people that nobody else wants change, right? So for instance, if you, and he wrote this beautiful essay called The Power of the Powerless, where he says, if you tell a butcher, if you force them on penalty of going to prison to hang a sign that

in support of communist rule, for instance, in Czechoslovakia, then what other people will think, their neighbors, is that, oh, this person is not going to support me. If I want to take part in a movement to make things better, this person is not on my side, right? Even though they're being forced to put the sign up, right?

in support of communist rule, for instance, in Czechoslovakia, then what other people will think, their neighbors, is that, oh, this person is not going to support me. If I want to take part in a movement to make things better, this person is not on my side, right? Even though they're being forced to put the sign up, right?

in support of communist rule, for instance, in Czechoslovakia, then what other people will think, their neighbors, is that, oh, this person is not going to support me. If I want to take part in a movement to make things better, this person is not on my side, right? Even though they're being forced to put the sign up, right?

So there's these authoritarian states and really, I think these movements to take power away from people thrive, right? by getting people to trust each other less.

So there's these authoritarian states and really, I think these movements to take power away from people thrive, right? by getting people to trust each other less.

So there's these authoritarian states and really, I think these movements to take power away from people thrive, right? by getting people to trust each other less.

I think there's something really powerful, though, that people need to know, which is that, in fact, and Amanda, this gets to your point, the more that we're able to move past those representations, whether it's a sign in the window or what we see in the news, and actually get to know the people around us, the more we realize that those negative beliefs are wrong.

I think there's something really powerful, though, that people need to know, which is that, in fact, and Amanda, this gets to your point, the more that we're able to move past those representations, whether it's a sign in the window or what we see in the news, and actually get to know the people around us, the more we realize that those negative beliefs are wrong.

I think there's something really powerful, though, that people need to know, which is that, in fact, and Amanda, this gets to your point, the more that we're able to move past those representations, whether it's a sign in the window or what we see in the news, and actually get to know the people around us, the more we realize that those negative beliefs are wrong.

The more we realize that people actually do generally want what we want. that they want greater peace, for instance, that they want more egalitarianism. And this is one thing that just struck me over and over again when I was doing the research for this book is that cynicism really lives more on our screens, right?

The more we realize that people actually do generally want what we want. that they want greater peace, for instance, that they want more egalitarianism. And this is one thing that just struck me over and over again when I was doing the research for this book is that cynicism really lives more on our screens, right?

The more we realize that people actually do generally want what we want. that they want greater peace, for instance, that they want more egalitarianism. And this is one thing that just struck me over and over again when I was doing the research for this book is that cynicism really lives more on our screens, right?

When we're taking in cable news or social media, we are much more likely to mistrust people, to think that people are extreme and dangerous and violent and that we should really stay the hell away from them. When we are actually out in the world, with our communities, that cynicism naturally dissipates.

When we're taking in cable news or social media, we are much more likely to mistrust people, to think that people are extreme and dangerous and violent and that we should really stay the hell away from them. When we are actually out in the world, with our communities, that cynicism naturally dissipates.

When we're taking in cable news or social media, we are much more likely to mistrust people, to think that people are extreme and dangerous and violent and that we should really stay the hell away from them. When we are actually out in the world, with our communities, that cynicism naturally dissipates.

So one of the crucial things that I learned is that in order to defeat cynicism, we don't need to ignore the truth. We actually need to get closer to the truth. We actually need to be more accurate and learn more deeply about what people are really like.