Cynics don't know what true unhappiness is?

Question

Does anyone agree that a lot of people who pose as being cynical and nihilistic have never experienced true darkness? I've always believed that life is meaningful and wonderful, despite having some terrible periods of depression. Also, I've noticed that people who have historically lived through tough times-- like the Holocaust, or the Great Depression-- seemed to have been a lot more idealistic than people who live pampered, affluent lives and consider them meaningless. Almost as if nothing could ever match up to the life they somehow feel they deserve.

Answer 1

no one gets through life without some suffering - what does not kill us, makes us stronger... True, most of us are lucky and don't experience extreme suffering ie wars, death and destruction - but suffering is suffering whatever the scale. It is difficult to judge how much - some thing we would think trivial could be devastating to some one else - and don't forget:-

A 'Cynic' is what a Romantic calls a Realist...............

Answer 2

I have had childhood experiences i'd prefer not to mention here, so you're just going to have to take it on faith that most people would think they were pretty bad. Through all of that i was really positive, but i became much more negative as i grew up and i now expect people to have good intentions but to do things which would generally be seen as evil. I suspect people's motives in terms of their practical goals but not in terms of their values or goodwill.

The same sort of things are going on now as were before in poorer parts of the world, and they are the fault of the richer parts of the world. We have exported our exploitation, so the times we are living through are no better, it's just that the suffering and want is hidden from the privileged by distance. Having said that, the richest family in the world could be beating each other up, sexually abusing the children and raping the women members, and no-one knows what might be going on behind closed doors.

I do agree that some people may adopt a disdainful attitude to life that is inauthentic and may become a habit, and this happens a lot among the rich.

There is an irony in this question though, because of the original meaning of the term cynic. In ancient Greece, the Cynic Philosophers believed one had to reject social convention and physical comforts to achieve true happiness by living a natural virtuous life, and of course if they're right, it's absolutely true that cynics don't know what true unhappiness is.

Answer 3

We all think we know true unhappiness. After all, our own lives are all we have for comparison. I do think those who have had great tragedy in their lives and come through it do so with a perspective that is quite different from those who don't have that experience. Perhaps more appreciative of the good times? And for those who have not experienced as much hardship as others, there may be some romanticising of what deep suffering is truly about. But we all suffer at some point in one form or another. I wouldn't presume to measure another's suffering against my own.

Answer 4

Life is not meaningful and wonderful in and if itself, life is just life. What it means to you is your own opinion. I agree with Grima Queen, suffering is suffering, no matter what the size it's equally as real to the person who's feeling it. But I also agree that most cynicism is a pose, but that's just my own cynical view!

Answer 5

Happiness is an agreeable feeling or condition arising
from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind.
It is the possession of those circumstances or that
state of being which is attended with enjoyment. It is
associated with good luck, good fortune, prosperity,
well-being, delight, health, safety, and love.

Happiness is generic, and is applied to almost every
kind of enjoyment except that of the animal appetites.
It ia a state of well-being characterized by emotions
ranging from contentment to intense joy. These include:
bliss, joy, joyous, carefree, jubilant, exultant,
cheerful, playful, amused, fun, glad, gay, gleeful,
jolly, jovial, delighted, euphoric, ecstatic, thrilled,
elated, enraptured, comfortable, harmonious, and
triumphant. Societies, religions, and individuals have
various views on the nature of happiness and how to
pursue it.

Only saint-like persons, who feel that they are no
longer interested in the external world, think that
happiness is within. For many persons, nothing can make
them happy. Our minds are as different as our finger
prints - no two are alike. Listening to loud music
makes one happy and makes another unhappy. Hence, there
can be no single definition for happiness. It is
probably impossible to objectively define happiness as
humans know and understand it, as internal experiences
are subjective by nature. Because of this, explaining
happiness as experienced by one individual is as
pointless as trying to define the color green such that
a completely color blind person could understand the
experience of seeing green.

As a state and a subject, it has been pursued and
commented on extensively throughout world history.

"Call no man happy till he is dead." - Aeschylus

"Happiness is a positive cash flow." - Fred Adler

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes
true happiness. It is not attained through
self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy
purpose." - Joseph Addison

"True happiness arises, in the first place, from the
enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the
friendship and conversation of a few select
companions." - Joseph Addison

Happiness is often associated with the presence of
favourable circumstances such as a supportive family
life, a loving marriage, and economic stability. Kali
Yuga, the age of darkness, is the time when these
favourables are difficult to find.

Unfavorable circumstances - such as abusive
relationships, accidents, loss of employment, and
conflicts - diminish the amount of happiness a person
experiences. In all nations, factors such as hunger,
disease, crime, corruption, and warfare can decrease
happiness. However, according to several ancient and
modern thinkers, happiness is influenced by the
attitude and perspective taken on such circumstances.

From the observation that fish must become happy by
swimming, and birds must become happy by flying.
Aristotle points to the unique abilities of man as the
route to happiness. Of all the animals only man can sit
and contemplate reality. Of all the animals only man
can develop social relations to the political level.
Thus the contemplative life of a monk or professor, or
the political life of a military commander or
politician will be the happiest according to their own
psyche.

The following is the self-reported positive affect
(i.e. positive emotion) during the day by 909 employed
women in USA:

Activities and their positive effect index:

Intimate relations 5.10
Socializing 4.59
Relaxing 4.42
Pray/Worship/Meditate 4.35
Eating 4.34
Exercising 4.31
Watching TV 4.19
Shopping 3.95
Preparing food 3.93
On the phone 3.92
Napping 3.87
Taking care of
my children 3.86
Computer/Email/
Internet 3.81
Housework 3.73
Working 3.62
Commuting 3.45

Interaction with partners:

w/ friends 4.36
w/ relatives 4.17
w/ spouse/Significant
other 4.11
w/ children 4.04
w/ clients/customers 3.79
w/ co-workers 3.76
w/ boss 3.52
alone 3.41

Further, happiness is not entirely psychological in
nature - it has got a biological basis too. The
neurotransmitter dopamine is involved in desire and
seems often related to pleasure. Pleasure can be
induced artificially with drugs. Use of drugs is not
some thing new, it has been used by many including
Sanyasis since millenia.

Answer 6

Are you implying that cynicism is pleasure and that to be cynical you must have many possessions?

Answer 7

Well im not sure.