The Cynical Genius Illusion - Dr. Jamil Zaki

Dr. Jamil Zaki, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at Stanford University, director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory, and the author of the new book Hope for Cynics. In this episode, he discusses cynicism and its healthier, more adaptive alternative, healthy skepticism, and how embracing healthy skepticism can enhance both our emotional and physical health.

Data reveals how cynicism affects us as individuals and in relationships, causing lower levels of happiness, poorer physical health, and reduced creativity, trust, and collaboration. Dr. Jamil Zaki explains novel data-supported tools that we can use to shift ourselves towards a more informed yet more positive worldview and how to adopt a mindset of “hopeful skepticism” — the ideal stance to navigate life.

Dr. Zaki offers a positive, hopeful view of humanity grounded in cutting-edge research from his laboratory and other top laboratories. He also offers science-supported protocols to navigate relationships in person and online better.

Dr. Jamil Zaki
Instagram: / jamil_zaki_psych
LinkedIn: / jamil-zaki-b0b4a9192

[kingdoyle]

“In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength" - Iroh

[liaml.e.]

"Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist."
—George Carlin—

[KaleiWorks]

Getting rid of the television, avoiding new films, deleting most social media and curating the remaining feeds to relentlessly positive outlooks has done wonders. It's insane how everything now seems geared towards pushing the negative mindset, but as soon as you cut off the source, successes begin stacking, life becomes much more pleasant, and love begins to flourish.

[AfterSkool]

"People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

[phoenixpv]

I really liked this one!

A Buddhist teacher once said something that I feel is fitting here, “Respect is given, trust is earned.”

Meaning that out of respect, we give people the chance to earn our trust or show us that they’re not trustworthy. This simple statement seems to be the epitome of “hopeful skeptic”.

[notboringbored]

This may not get seen but I'd like to remind everyone that we all go through Cynical, Skeptical, Hopeful, and Naive points in our lives. Just because you're being cynical today doesn't mean that tomorrow you're not going to be hopefully skeptical. Attempting to regulate down to a single constant only works in a vacuum. The Universe is uniform chaos, your life is a series of patterns that repeat time and time again. The internet, books, stories and data points only serve to provide us with a constant backlog of personal perspectives explained differently. Today, I'm hopeful that tomorrow my cynicism and skepticism work together; making sure I'm not naive to the future we are headed for, the past we came from, and the present we inhabit.

[Roy-tgil]

I despise when your guest expose my flaws. This is why I support you..

[colint]

Love this, having a phrase like “hopeful skeptic” helps me see these traits in myself and solidifies them more firmly in conscious awareness.

[LifeLessons-us]

Often times 'good' deeds go unnoticed, while negative encounters remain in our memories.

[angeltrogi]

i truly wish you could broadcast your channel on every outlet. you make everything make sense and make the connections of thoughts we all seem to have. I have faith in humanity and hope that one day we can see that we have this innate desire to be loved and connected.
thank you so much for this video!

[Dziad_Gada]

Great work! I appreciate how much effort this must have taken. Well-deserved recognition!

Greetings from the Republic of Sovereigns❣

[heatherc]

The thing that truly makes a difference is action. You can feel hopeful or hopeless but what you DO is the only way anything will change things for better or for worse. The ones who hold the power in this world don’t care how you feel as long as you do what they want.

[FSR]

It's not a matter of having hope. It's a matter of what you have hope in.

[JasonPruett]

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

[Stan_in_Shelton_WA]

I believe in people, believe they will do what is best for them at almost all costs. I trust people, trust that they will put themselves first in almost every situation. My optimism never fails me, optimistic that; believing, trusting and relying, on myself will be my path forward towards good outcomes.

[peterzhang]

Faith and trust is earned not imagined

[ksgraham]

I tend to think good of people, evil of organizations.
Power corrupts, absolutely.

[_just_browsing_]

By protecting yourself from pain, you are also protecting yourself from joy.

You don't trust that people won't hurt you, you tust you'll be okay if they do.

[joemoore]

3:45 is so ironic 😂 “Cynics assume they already know everything about people” while you assume you know everything about people who are cynical

[mohammedmoshood]

just the video i needed to day.
thank you Mr Jamil Zaki