Stay the skeptic, never the cynic

Skepticism is a vital function of a healthy, open mind. It keeps us from taking each piece of information that's thrown like a ninja star at our heads at face value. And now that nearly every digital surface we encounter is pre-processed by an opinionated algorithm, skepticism is one of our most useful human skills. I'd go so far as to say it is among the top 5 skills that we must never outsource by definition. But IMO people have a hard time resisting the slide from skepticism into cynicism. I'm regularly lampooned in my groupchats for being an over-earnest idealist, which I will totally own, but I don't try to change this about myself because I'd prefer believing in the possibility of good or progress over making a sport out of deflating every potentially positive idea that floats my way. As always, long post, so TL;DR: skeptic good, cynic bad. It's obviously a fine line and it's one you have to constantly negotiate within yourself. Be skeptical of your own skepticism, basically.…