Author : Xu Bi Professor at St. Mary's College in California
Reprinted from: Southern Weekly (ID: southernweekly)
One of the characteristics of cynicism is cynicism, ridicule, contempt and contempt. It is often the "temperament" characteristic of certain individuals - character, habits, habits of thought, mood, and tone of voice. The reason why habitual cynicism is harmful is not to "see through" but to "see through everything".
Original title｜The cynicism of "thinking with your heels"
It is often said that "thinking with your heels" will tell you whether something is right or wrong, possible or impossible, etc. This is a statement with different semantics. Some use it as a playful metaphor, meaning that you don’t need professional knowledge and can only know with common sense; some use it as a sarcastic expression, meaning that you don’t use your brain at all and just think blindly; others use it as a disdainful, arbitrary, arrogant, and indifferent rejection, meaning that you know things that are obvious without even thinking about them.
Media professors Ronald C. Arnett and Pat Arneson, in their book "Dialogic Civility in A Cynical Age" (Dialogic Civility in A Cynical Age), called the last usage of "thinking with heels" "routine cynicism", that is, a kind of rejection and denial without thinking, relying only on intuition and conditioned reflexes.
In my argumentative writing class, I selected several chapters from this book for students to read and discuss, because they often use expressions similar to "thinking with their heels" in their daily conversations. These expressions serve to terminate the conversation rather than continue it, and "whatever", a common phrase among teenagers, is one of them. This is a speech act that expresses indifference or disdain, rather than really having any substantive semantic content. It means, "No matter what you say, it has nothing to do with me" and "Don't bother me." According to a 2009 and 2010 poll by Marist College, "whatever" was rated as "the most irritating word in conversation" and is also generally regarded as impolite and offensive public language.
How to avoid hurting others through intentional or unintentional impoliteness in public discussions? How do you keep the conversation going effectively instead of falling apart at the start of the conversation? Yanette and Alesen's answer is that it can be achieved through "civilization of dialogue," which requires not only respecting others or different opinions, but also "respecting the topic." That is, not casually judging a topic as "not worth talking about" or "not worth refuting." "Thinking on your heels" is a way of saying this kind of "not worth it."
Disrespect topics often come together with disrespect for others or different opinions. In these disrespects, Yanette and Alesen saw a kind of "habitual cynicism" in that wants to deny or reject without thinking. It is also called "unthinking cynicism" or "perpetual cynicism" (perpetual cynicism). They believe that this is a kind of cynicism that is harmful to "public interpersonal relationships."
One of the characteristics of cynicism is cynicism, sarcasm, and contempt. It is often the "disposition" characteristics of certain individuals-character, habits, thinking habits, emotions, and speaking tone. Habitual cynicism does not mainly refer to such personal temperament characteristics, but to the kind of "habitual, mediocre, and inconsiderate cynicism" in public life. Such a cynic is not interested in discussing issues at all. He clings to his own prejudices and already has ready-made and unchanging ideas about everything. This idea is often the result of three kinds of "see-through": sees through the selfishness of all human nature, sees through the injustice of all systems (which always serve the selfish interests of some people), and sees through the pretentiousness and hypocrisy of all values (which are nothing more than used by some people to cover up their selfish interests).
习惯性犬儒主义之所以有害，不在于“看穿”，而在于“看穿一切”。不加分辨、不分青红皂白地否定，这就变成了一种不加思考、没有判断，只凭条件反射的说“不”。 Cultural researcher Wilber W. Caldwell wrote about this, "Cynicism has its place in social culture, and its ability to discern the inconsistency between words and deeds is often useful and appropriate. But the problem is that habitual cynicism generalizes and ignores those who can match their words and deeds. Habitual cynics lose The ability to judge when it is appropriate and when it is inappropriate. He is an automatic cynic, completely insensible to the subtle changes in the gray area between good and evil. " Habitual cynics do not know what to doubt, what to trust, when to doubt, and when to guard faith.
习惯性犬儒是一种大众性的犬儒，它有反智的倾向。但是，它并不是天生的，而是经验性定型的结果。 许多人是因为不断被“头脑灵光”的高人愚弄、欺骗、误导，才选择或自称“用脚后跟”来想的。 In our lives, there are indeed many experts who use "academic" lies to tell lies, using seemingly advanced and sophisticated theories to package lies that ordinary people can see through with common sense. However, the more this happens, the more people need to think rationally and logically instead of turning to cynicism.犬儒一旦成为习惯，变成自动而不加思考的反应，那么再有根据的说服，想影响它也都很难。 Before this happens, reasoning can help cynics who are willing to use their brains become less cynical, and it should also have an educational effect on habitual cynics who are not yet stubborn.
