Dr. Jamil Zaki

But, you know, it's not just the neck up. cynicism affects. Cynics over the course of their lives also tend to have greater degrees of cellular inflammation, more incidence of heart disease, and they even have higher rates of all-cause mortality, so shorter lives than non-cynics. And again, this might sound like, wait a minute, you go from a philosophical theory to a shorter life.

The answer is, yeah, you do, because we're And again, these are correlational studies, so I don't want to draw too many causal claims, but they're quite rigorous and control for a lot of other factors. But I would say that this is consistent with the idea that really one of the great protectors of our health is our sense of connection to other people.

The answer is, yeah, you do, because we're And again, these are correlational studies, so I don't want to draw too many causal claims, but they're quite rigorous and control for a lot of other factors. But I would say that this is consistent with the idea that really one of the great protectors of our health is our sense of connection to other people.

The answer is, yeah, you do, because we're And again, these are correlational studies, so I don't want to draw too many causal claims, but they're quite rigorous and control for a lot of other factors. But I would say that this is consistent with the idea that really one of the great protectors of our health is our sense of connection to other people.

And if you are unable or unwilling to be vulnerable around others, to really touch in to that type of connection, it stands to reason that things like chronic stress And isolation would impact not just your mind, but all through your body and your organ systems. So again, the news here is not great.

And if you are unable or unwilling to be vulnerable around others, to really touch in to that type of connection, it stands to reason that things like chronic stress And isolation would impact not just your mind, but all through your body and your organ systems. So again, the news here is not great.

And if you are unable or unwilling to be vulnerable around others, to really touch in to that type of connection, it stands to reason that things like chronic stress And isolation would impact not just your mind, but all through your body and your organ systems. So again, the news here is not great.

And I often think about one of the best encapsulations of a cynical view of life comes from Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher, who in his book Leviathan said, we need a restrictive government because left to our own devices, Human life is nasty, brutish, and short. And ironically, I think that might describe the lives of cynics themselves more than most people.

And I often think about one of the best encapsulations of a cynical view of life comes from Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher, who in his book Leviathan said, we need a restrictive government because left to our own devices, Human life is nasty, brutish, and short. And ironically, I think that might describe the lives of cynics themselves more than most people.

And I often think about one of the best encapsulations of a cynical view of life comes from Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher, who in his book Leviathan said, we need a restrictive government because left to our own devices, Human life is nasty, brutish, and short. And ironically, I think that might describe the lives of cynics themselves more than most people.

So that's point one, right, is that there is this pretty stark negative correlation between cynicism and a lot of life outcomes that we might want for ourselves. But point two, I think, is related to what your dad also noticed, right? which is that, right, if cynicism hurts us so much, why would we adopt it?

So that's point one, right, is that there is this pretty stark negative correlation between cynicism and a lot of life outcomes that we might want for ourselves. But point two, I think, is related to what your dad also noticed, right? which is that, right, if cynicism hurts us so much, why would we adopt it?

So that's point one, right, is that there is this pretty stark negative correlation between cynicism and a lot of life outcomes that we might want for ourselves. But point two, I think, is related to what your dad also noticed, right? which is that, right, if cynicism hurts us so much, why would we adopt it?

If it was a pill, if there was a pill that as its side effects listed depression, loneliness, heart disease, and early death, it would be a poison, right? It would have a skull and crossbones on the bottle, but yet we're swallowing it. More of us are swallowing it than we did in years and decades past. Why? Well, one of the answers, I think, is because our culture glamorizes cynicism.

If it was a pill, if there was a pill that as its side effects listed depression, loneliness, heart disease, and early death, it would be a poison, right? It would have a skull and crossbones on the bottle, but yet we're swallowing it. More of us are swallowing it than we did in years and decades past. Why? Well, one of the answers, I think, is because our culture glamorizes cynicism.

If it was a pill, if there was a pill that as its side effects listed depression, loneliness, heart disease, and early death, it would be a poison, right? It would have a skull and crossbones on the bottle, but yet we're swallowing it. More of us are swallowing it than we did in years and decades past. Why? Well, one of the answers, I think, is because our culture glamorizes cynicism.

It's because of the very stereotype that your father pointed out, which is that if you're happy-go-lucky, if you trust people, that kind of seems dull. It seems like maybe you're not that sharp. Maybe you don't understand the world. And there is that strong relationship in our stereotypes, in our models of the world that

It's because of the very stereotype that your father pointed out, which is that if you're happy-go-lucky, if you trust people, that kind of seems dull. It seems like maybe you're not that sharp. Maybe you don't understand the world. And there is that strong relationship in our stereotypes, in our models of the world that

It's because of the very stereotype that your father pointed out, which is that if you're happy-go-lucky, if you trust people, that kind of seems dull. It seems like maybe you're not that sharp. Maybe you don't understand the world. And there is that strong relationship in our stereotypes, in our models of the world that

Susan Fiske and many other psychologists have studied warmth and competence, right? How friendly and caring does somebody seem? And how able do they seem to accomplish hard things? And it turns out that in many studies, people's perception is that these are inversely correlated. That if you're warm, maybe you're not that competent. And if you're competent, maybe you shouldn't be that warm.