Cynicism

so when will we live in a tolerant society where mental illness is not discriminated against 

I am not cynical at all.  I can understand why many Autists would be, but I am not.

It's a very very off-putting trait.

This strategy lost out to tit-for-tat.

Cynicism has multiple meanings; therefore this topic has rather bent my brain (not a bad thing, now and again).

For example:

...Cynical character, versus

...Cynical attitude, versus

...Cynical quality.

Basically, the opposite of: idealism (pursuit of or belief in noble ideals, principles, and values).

Perhaps, in order to avoid the deep disappointment and frustration (as Autistic people) we can experience when those we encounter might not be able to live up to the pedestal on which we might have placed idealism: as Autistic people, we are therefore more inclined to don the self-protective armour worn by many - in parsing via cynicism (in the hopes of then being pleasantly surprised - sometimes our assumption was incorrect - in that we can discover: there are actually some people who work hard to meet us in the middle and support us - they may be rare and treasured finds - but a number of them are out there for us to find).

Believing and assuming the worst in people by default usually in most cases turns out to be correct, until proven otherwise 

Being cynical in our modern world is being truthful and realistic, we are not going to sugar coat it, we are not going to play their silly games 

Yes my cynicism is that the mob always gets the police or council to believe them for line of last resistance when the individual accused is the one that is the victim.

I also believe that people with autism never get fair treatment 

I'm not totally cynical, but I do have a healthy amount, if something looks to good to be true, then it usually is. I agree with Iain there are a lot of gullible fools out there.

I think there are a lot of people who've never been taught to question anything and literally know no better. Critical thinking is essential to navigating life, from asking yourself, if I go up that trail, will I be able to get down again? To do I believe what this person is telling me? Learning to ask questions of a question and knowing what your own boundaries are isn't cynicism or self limiting, its self preservation.

I think that it is a great topic.

I would like to think that I have a healthy dose of cynicism, but not so much that I would label myself a cynic.

There really are lots of good people out there. And, being people they often make mistakes.

(I am recalling this purely from memory, the main details should be correct, but just bare in mind my memory isn't what it used to be!)

Many years ago there was a competition where people could submit computer code with different strategies to score the best in ongoing games of The Prisoner's Dilemma (this is a fascinating game in itself, and gives an amazing insight into the human condition. If you have the time, I would recommend reading about it.) It involves a simple choice between co-operating or screwing your opponent over.

People submitted all sorts of complicated strategies with many lines of ingenious computer code to try to outsmart the other players and allow for any situation that could be thought of.

However, the winner was just a few simple line of code. It was called "tit-for-tat". It would always co-operate unless it got screwed over, in which case it would screw-over the opponent back, and then restart co-operating.

I read about this over 30 years ago, and it was a good life lesson for me. Play nice, 'punish' any attacks swiftly, but fairly, and then forgive.

It would be interesting to convert your life strategies into the realm of this game, and see how you fare. Likely not as well as the simple tit-for-tat.

I always state that everyone has an agenda and no one can be truly trusted. This is I suppose a safety system. If you don't let people get too close they can't hurt of betray you. As Wash once said" curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal".

It is an essential balance in nature for all those gullible fools out there - we are essential in a thriving ecosystem of society.

So what you're saying is, this can be considered a blessing as well as a curse? I like that, I suddenly don't feel bad about being a cynic.

MrProblematic said:

Anyone else find that they are more cynical than a non-autistic person or is it just me?

Oh yes.

I'm probably an extra pain in the behind for the cynicysm deniers because I like to go the extra mile to back up my statements and I can sometimes almost hear them grinding their teeth over their camomile tea.