(Painting by Redditor u/InfinitePilgrim)
In Dune: Part Two there’s a scene where the protagonist, Paul Atreides, is sent out into the desert alone to prove himself. As the camera pans to Paul walking into an endless sea of sand, the love interest in the film, Chani, says that she’s worried about Paul because “He’s different, he’s sincere.” Chani catches up with Paul and guides him through the desert. She’s attracted to Paul’s sincerity and that attraction motivates her to help him (that plot line gets much more complex, but I don’t want to spoil the movie if you haven’t seen it. Go see Dune: Part Two, it’s incredible).
Sincerity is a feature shared by most protagonists. It’s an archetypal quality in the final evolution of the hero. And sincerity and cynicism can’t coexist. There’s no such thing as a sincere cynic, just as there is no such thing as a cynical hero.
Most of us see ourselves as the protagonist in our life story. We’re the main character. The hero. This is a fine way to see the world and our place in it, but if we accept the hero mantle, we must also embody the character. Sincerity is a cornerstone of the hero. And sincerity is belief. It’s the belief that your efforts, and the efforts of others, can bring about change. Maintaining this belief in the face of countless obstacles and failures is the hero’s journey.
If you choose the path of the hero you will meet people who mistake your sincerity for naivety. These people are truly cynical. They have often been dealt tough hands in life, made tougher by their own carefully nurtured defeatism, and they’ve let those hands shape them into bitter, ineffectual, Charlie Brown-style wraiths. They will scoff at your ambitions and cast doubt on your chances of success. It’s a form of transference, wherein the cynic attempts to put the burden of their unlived life onto you. It’s ugly.
Cynicism makes you unattractive. Research has shown that cynics experience a lower rate of romantic success, short-term and long-term, over non-cynics. And even in relationships, cynics experience fewer feelings of intimacy. This seems inevitable since cynicism definitionally rules out a positive outcome. Forget all the other reasons that cynicism fails you, this one seems like the last nail in the coffin, the final straw, the end of the road. This should be enough to hang a sign around cynicism’s bony neck; “YE BE WARNED”, “PROLONGED LONLINESS BEFALLS THOSE WHO ENTER HERE”.
The good news is that we can choose how we interpret the world. Hope is not lost for the cynic. All they have to do, all we have to do, is choose sincerity. Choose the unrelenting belief that characterizes the hero. Choose to believe that our effort can change our circumstances.
The challenges, obstacles, and failures we’ve experienced are either the last chapter in a sad story or the prologue to a grand adventure.
Which do you choose?
MW 