Cynicism and Intelligence
“Cynicism is the intellectual cripple’s substitute for intelligence.”
–Russell Lynes
Are intelligent individuals cynical because their intelligence gives them a “realistic” view of the world and people? Or are cynics too untrusting to trust new information and ideas? Or maybe there’s no correlation between the two characteristics, and my blog is completely worthless (likely).
I began pondering the relationship between cynicism and intelligence when a professor of mine last week mentioned that so many of his honors students were cynics. Are these honors students cynical because they’re smart? I initially thought there couldn’t be a correlation between the two. In fact, I would expect intellects to be less cynical. Cynics are distrusting, so it’s more likely that they distrust the opinions of others. This type of behavior is pretty unproductive and, I think, would prevent someone from expanding his or her understanding. Intelligent people could surely be slightly cynical, enough to expect people to be generally bad, but not so much that he or she doesn’t trust anyone at all except him or herself. There’s certainly a boundary somewhere.
If a cynic experiences a problem at work or home, it seems he or she would be more likely to blame or scorn others than to solve the problem. Cynics might be problem-blamers, rather than problem-solvers if this were the case. I know that I am personally quick to blame others for problems (a fragile ego may also be a contributing factor though). However, problem solving is more satisfying (I just usually start a problem by blaming, and then I begin to solve it).
Why would smart individuals, like my professor seemed to believe, likely be cynical? I can only really think of the idea of realism that I discussed in an earlier post. Skepticism may give one a more realistic view of the world, revealing the bad in people and the likelihood of disappointment and failure. An idea that cynics might be smarter because of this, however, now seems to me pretty pompous, and I’m rather selfish for indulging in the idea.
I feel as though saying, “I’m smart and cynical, so there must be a correlation” would be rather presumptions. Obviously I’m a cynic, but I don’t consider myself particularly intelligent, but I don’t think I’m a close-minded idiot who blames absolutely everything on everyone else either, so my case can’t support either argument. What do you think? Do you find there to be any distinguishable relationship?
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I would like to think that intellects would be cynical towards intellectual advances that don’t have proof of their validity, such as a new medicine or some other discovery. Intellectuals that are cynical towards academics have no need to be the same towards other matters, but whether this is believed and felt is not something I can say for certain. Maybe the professor has taught, by some chance, honors students that are cynical. Those students are not the best representation of whether or not all honors students are cynical, and there is also the alternative of this just being a stereotype.
I too have thought at times that cynics might be a bit smarter just because they have more reasonable expectations. I understand that if someone is cynical then that person might be more distrustful than the average person. However, I’m not exactly sure that this idea applies in this particular case. I certainly agree that a cynic’s realism might provide him/her with an advantage but I’m not sure that they’re distrustful when it comes to learning. For example, why would a cynic be distrustful of a fact in a science class or an interpretation of a passage of a poem/book in a literature class? On the other hand, I feel like being too realistic might detract from a cynic’s creativity. So there are a few points for each side of the argument.
It’s interesting to think about the possible link between intelligence and cynicism. I agree with you that creating a correlation between intelligence and cynicism is rather presumptuous because I don’t think that all intelligent people are cynical. However, I could definitely see where the thought process behind the correlation lies. Critical thinkers are taught to question everything and take nothing at face-value. Therefore, I believe that intelligent people are somewhat cynical in their exploration of facts and theorems. With that being said, I also agree with you that intelligent people tend to be problem solvers and that is the opposite of a cynic. Because of these opposing points, I don’t believe there can be a correlation drawn between cynicism and intelligence. I’m sure someone is studying a possible link, though, and I could be proven wrong although I do not see how. I’ve met smart cynics and I’ve also met intelligent people who are the farthest thing from cynical. It’s so difficult to pinpoint cause and effect in people for their behavior, but maybe in the future we will be able to. Maybe.