The Lowe-Down

I tend to be a default cynic. I’m not always thrilled about it, but I know it is true. It is easy to justify, of course. We are bombarded everyday by marketing – someone is always trying to sell me something. We live in a digital world in which so much is faked, photoshopped, curated to sell an ideal. Of course, I am cynical. Who wouldn’t be? But cynicism leads us down a dangerous path. One well worn by other self-confessed cynics.

First, we lose our sense of compassion for others.

“As my father always used to tell me, ‘You see, son, there’s always someone in the world worse off than you.’ And I always used to think, ‘So?” (Bill Bryson, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America)

And without real compassion, we descend into the arrogance of the habitual cynic.

“In the depths of my heart I can’t help being convinced that my dear fellow-men, with a few exceptions, are worthless.” (Sigmund Freud, Letters of Sigmund Freud, 1873-1939)

And finally, we turn our cynicism on ourselves.

“If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn’t as cynical as real life.” (Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!)

As Oscar Wilde said, a cynic knows ‘the cost of everything and the value of nothing.’

So, what is the antidote to cynicism? For me, it is wonder. A conscious effort to discover the weird, wonderful, surprising, and downright amazing things that exist in this world. Things that startle me out of my smug sense of superiority and defy any attempt to mock them. Things that leave me filled instead with a sense of wonder. And the great thing is, the world is full these sorts of things if we choose to look for them. And once discovered, these wonderous discoveries can begin to reverse the destructive spiral of cynicism.

Let me give you an example. Did you know that there is a jellyfish that poops glitter? Seriously! I only discovered this very recently and I’m not the only one. The Bloody-Belly Comb Jelly lives in the deepest depths of the ocean and was first discovered about 20 years ago. It is so sensitive to temperature change that it is very difficult to transport and preserve outside of its natural habitat. Only a handful of people have historically been able to lay their eyes on it. That is until now. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has found a way to keep this super rare species of marine animal alive and on exhibit. And as if that wasn’t exciting enough, they have now discovered that it poops glitter! You can even check out the video online (just search for ‘glitter pooping jellyfish’).

Now here is the logic. If this world can contain something as ridiculously fun as a glitter pooping jellyfish, then it can’t be as underwhelming as cynical-me might have thought. And if there are people out there discovering and sharing these amazing creatures that I was unaware even existed, then clearly humans are not as useless as cynical-me suspected. And as soon as I start to value others again, I also rediscover compassion for them. Cynicism conquered by a glitter pooping jellyfish!

Another consequence of being surprised by the world around me is that it recalibrates my view of God. The smallness of my cynical world requires only a small god that I can direct my cynicism towards. A world that contains wonders beyond my ability to explain points me to a God that is greater than I can possibly fathom. In the words of the Psalmist: 

“The heavens tell about the glory of God.
The skies show that his hands created them.
Day after day they speak about it.
Night after night they make it known.” Psalm 19:1-2

If I want an antidote for my cynicism, I only need look around with enough curiosity and I will quickly discover that the world is in fact a remarkable place.

A glitter pooping jellyfish may not be conclusive proof of God’s existence, but it certainly makes you wonder!