Not exactly. I'm sure cynics who create value are out there a-plenty. The world is a big place. But the most successful people don't seem to generally have this disposition.
Says who?
Just what I've noticed. I made the list in the earlier post of some of the most successful people of all time. They don't seem like cynics, do they?
I thought this was relatively commonly known and accepted. Cynics tend to be optimists by nature who feel emotionally crushed by the realities of the world, so they react to this by becoming overly negative so they can't be burnt. Realists tend to be people who are cynical by nature who need an excuse to not see good in anything.
Again, says who? Sorry, that just strikes me as bizarre. It's certainly not "commonly known and accepted".
Possibly not.
Great cynics?
I mean the tradition that puts Will over Reason and convention, which is exactly the opposite of what you're describing cynicism as.
What does that tradition have to do with cynicism? Cynics are generally defined as people who think everything sucks. I've never seen it viewed any other way.
Wrong Gandhi.
Oh, shit!
But, seriously. No-one would say the Gandhi family is anything but idealistic-- at least at first. And, if a Nuclear Weapons program doesn't make you a political realist, then what does? And, if it does, the same exact example can just be applied to FDR.
I don't know anything about the Gandhi family as a whole.
It's not about being a political realist. When I think of "realists," I think of people with whom I have conversations like this:
Person "Human nature sucks."
Me "What do you mean?"
Person "We put so much energy into raping and killing and stealing from each other. It's in our nature to be horrible."
Me "I'm not sure that's true. Look at somebody like Pat Tillman. He wasn't exactly the person conservatives wish he was, but he was willing to sacrifice a very fortunate life to join the military. And he paid the ultimate price for it."
Person "And look what happened. His death by friendly fire was covered up by the government."
Me "And then a bunch of people, including Tillman's family, spent enormous amounts of time trying to find out the truth."
Person "Which they never should have had to do in the first place. Pat Tillman's story shows how miserable humanity is."
Me "What? Doesn't it show how, even in the face of the worst adversity, people can rise up and overcome it? Why do you have to see the bad side?"
Person "It's not the bad side. I'm just being a realist."
This person isn't a realist. He's purposelessly negative.
