Diff for "HopeForCynics"

Differences between revisions 13 and 58 (spanning 45 versions)

http://wiki.keithl.com/HopeForCynics

Hope For Cynics

The Surprising Science of Human Goodness

Jamil Zaki . 2024 . 149 ZAK . Beaverton Library
Dr. Zaki is professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab

This book is difficult to read in brief snatches. The author full-names many people once, then mentions them by first name many pages later. Not all are indexed ... who is "Megan?"

Index by FIRST NAME FIRST MENTION

Al	hypothetical father	073
Amur	hypothetical father	073
Andy	hypothetical	029
anxious young adults, isolation, cynicism		103
asset-framing		073
Atsushi Watanabe		097
Atticus	Bruneau son	040
Ben	hypothetical	029
Bernie	Sanders	035
Bill	Bruneau father	023
Bill	Gates	033
Boris Johnson	UK Prime Minister	049
Boston Firefighters	accused of faking injuries	079
CBT	Cognitive Behavioral Therapy	043
Charles Schultze	economist	051
Chris Inglesias	Unity Council CEO	064
Christina Maslach	burnout	103
Chung	Sye-kyun	023
Clara	Bruneau daughter	040
Clinica de la Raza		064
Colleen	hypothetical	030
conversation scavenger hunt		106
Cranbrook School	Michigan private school	072
David Byrne	Talking Heads	076
David Bornstein		071
Diogenes	of Sinope	016
Donald	Medley	018
Eileen	Megan's mother	034
Emile	Bruneau	001
ER Murrow H.S.	Brooklyn	052
FaceTime	dodopaddle app	059
Fixes	NYT column	076
Franck Boviert	Stanford Rugby	089
Frank Jude	Milwaukee beating 2004	050
Fred Bryant	psychologist	066
Freedom House	nonpartisan org.	049
Frederick	Niezche	008
Fruitvale	Oakland ICE targer	050
FTX	crypto$ 2019-2022	050
Geoff	Cohen	027
George	Bernard Shaw	030
George	Carlin comedian	038
George	Floyd police murder	035
Grameen Bank		075
Guy Smiley	Zaki nickname	043
Harold	Megan's father	034
Hephaestus		007
hikikomori	Japanese total isolation	097
humans can't NOT change		087
Instagram	dodopaddle app	059
Janet Lewis	Stanford women's rugby	090
Jean-Paul Sartre		073
Jesus		017
Karen	Douglas psychologist	035
Lake village	Leibbrant study	046
Landon	Zaki wife	043
Leibbrant	Andreas Leibbrant PhD	046
Libby Schaff	Oakland mayor	050
Linda	Bruneau schizo mom	039
Logan Lane	student	052
Luddite Club	Logan Lane	060
Mano Japan	high trust neigborhood	040
Mary	Ainsworth psychologist	036
Megan (pseudonym)	Q	033
Mikura Japan	low trust neigborhood	040
Mycroft	Holmes	015
Mohammed Yunus		075
Naikan	a form of self reflection	105
negativity bias		102
no close friends	15% of US men	098
Ocean village	Leibbrant study	046
Pandora		007
Penninsula	private school	055
Piedmont	rich community	050
Pontiac Michigan		072
Ralph Waldo	Emerson	026
Reasons to be Cheerful		076
Robert Axelrod	UMinn poly sci	084
Robin Dreek	2002 FBI spycatcher	083
Samantha Moore-Berg	Emile's lab colleague	058
Seamless	food delivery app	104
secret introvert	time alone when lecturing	101
Sherlock	Holmes	015
SJN	network	077
social shark attacks		106
solutions	journalism	076
Stanford actually friendly, ugly self-image		102
Stasi	East German police	049
Stephanie	Bruneau	008
Sue	hypothetical	030
talk to strangers	fun surprise, new friends	100
TeleHelp Ukraine		076
Theranos	healthtech 2003-2016	050
Thomas	Megan's boyfriend	035
Thomas	Hobbs	006
Tina Rosenberg	NYT columnist	076
Tinder	dodopaddle app	053
Tit for Tat	program, generous TFT better	085
Trabien Shorters	black poor gifted	072
trust powerful	builds connections	086
Twitter	dodopaddle app	060
Unity Council		064
Upworthy		069
Vanessa Bohns	influence neglect	081
Vivek Murthy	US Surgeon General	099
Voting Rights Florida ex-felons		078
Walter	Cook	018
WeWork	coworking 2010-2023	050
William	of Orange	024
World Happiness		066
WORTH	Women Overcoming Recidivism	076
Zeus		007
Zumba classes		064











		203

Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the couch and clutch, feeling lucky.
It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency.
-- Rebecca Solnit

p001 Introduction
p001 Emile Bruneau died 2020 age 47
p001 Peace and Conflict Neuroscience Lab at U. Penn. Annenberg School for Communication (cannot find)
p003 Emile's mother schizophrenic, but "She never let any of the darkness touch me"
p004 Cynicism ... is a seductive worldview, dark and simple. Too simple, really to explain much of anything.
p004 General Social Survey began in 1972
p005 In 1972, 50% agreed that "most people can be trusted", only 33% agreed in 2018.
p005 52% trusted president in 1970s, 23% in 2022. Newspapers 39% to 18%. Public schools 58% to 28%
p007 Media's product is cynicism.
p008 Nietzche called hope "the most evil of evils because it prolongs man's torment"
p009 Cynicism is a lack of faith in people, skepticism is a lack of faith in our assumptions.

Section I: UNLEARNING CYNICISM

p015 Chapter 1. Signs and Symptoms
p015 Mycroft Holmes more talented, but "no ambition and no energy" and a disdain for humanity
p016 Mycroft Holmes co-founded Diogenes Club
p018 "big-C Cynicism" opposite of misanthropy and "small-c cynicism"
p017 the real Diogenes helped people and would despise the Diogenes Club.
p017 Three statement test:
- (1) No one cares much what happens to you.
- (2) Most people dislike helping others.
- (3) Most people are honest chiefly through fear of getting caught.
p018 Cook and Medley: Worse teachers agreed with these statements. They are a "cynicism detector".
p020 adolescent cynics more likely depressed, drink and divorce in and after college
- cynics earn less, more heart disease, die sooner
p020 Finland 58% trust, France 18% trust
p021 High trust nations grow GDP faster
p025 Dining out, bring Tupperware rather than single use plastic from restaurants (?)
p025 autarkeia self-sufficiency
p026 Self-Reliance 1841 essay by Ralph Waldo Emerson
p026 Stanford's Geoff Cohen
p027 people who affirm their values become more open to contradictory infomation
p028 Zaki was jealous of others, birth of daughters overwhelmed worries about social status

p029 Chapter 2. The Surprising Wisdom of Hope
p030 valorize: enhance value
p030 cynics wise less often, poor at identifying liars
p031 the cynical genius illusion
p031 real wisdom when people know what they don't know. Think more like a skeptical scientist, less like a accusing lawyer
p032 cynics prone to conspiracy theories, skeptics less prone
p032 Author is suspicious skeptic - low faith in people, high faith in data
p035 The Fall of the Cabal
p039 Skepticism bedrock of Emile Bruneau's career as a scientist
p042 Q promised arrests of politicians and stars, failed, Megan left QAnon and repaired her life
p043 Landon challenged Zaki to defend his cynicism like a scientific hypothesis, experiment with hopeful cynicism
p043 now secure with Landon, still insecure with parents
p044 Cynicism house arrest, not self defense
p045 shared "Stanford imposter" feelings with colleagues, who also opened up

p046 Chapter 3. Preexisting Conditions
p046 Brazilian cutthroat lake village and cooperative ocean village; latter required big collaboration, trust resulted
p049 During COVID, British citizens locked down, funerals forbidden, while Boris Johnson partied

.p050 COVID vaccination in

wealthy Piedmont >80%,

in poor Fruitvale 65%,

where Latinos were

8 times more likely

to have positive PCR tests

p051
p052
p053
p053
p054
p060
p061

p065 Chapter 4. Hell Isn't Other People
p069
p069
p070
p072
p072
p073
p073
p074
p075
p076
p076
p076
p076
p077
p077

p079 Chapter 5. Escaping the Cynicism Trap
p079
p080
p084
p089
p091
p091 Loud trust
p092

Section II: REDISCOVERING ONE ANOTHER

p097 Chapter 6. The (Social) Water is Just Fine
p097
p100
p100
p101
p102
p103
p103
p104
p105
p105
p106
p107
p107
p108
p110
p111
p113

p114 Chapter 7. Building Cultures of Trust
p115
p116
p116
p118
p119
p123
p123
p125
p125
p126
p129

p130 Chapter 8. The Fault in Our Fault Lines
p130
p131
p136
p138
p138
p139
p142
p143
p143
p144
p145
p145

Section III: THE FUTURE OF HOPE

p151 Chapter 9. Building the World We Want
p153
p154
p154
p155
p157
p160
p161
p165

p168 Chapter 10. The Optimism of Activism
p171
p173
p183

p185 Chapter 11. Our Common Fate
p185
p191

p200 Epilogue

p205 Acknowledgements

p209 Appendix A: A Practical Guide to Hopeful Skepticism

p213 Appendix B: Evaluating the Evidence

p217 Chapter Claim Ratings

p225 Notes

p263 Index
p263 Emile Bruneau

-  ⇤ ← Revision 13 as of 2026-05-04 07:59:00 → 
  Size: 5980
  Editor: KeithLofstrom
  Comment:
+   ← Revision 58 as of 2026-05-06 06:36:53 → ⇥
  Size: 15799
  Editor: KeithLofstrom
  Comment:
-Deletions are marked like this.
+Additions are marked like this.
 Line 6:
------
+This book is difficult to read in brief snatches.  The author full-names many people once, then mentions them by first name many pages later.  Not all are indexed ... who is "Megan?"

-----
Index by FIRST NAME FIRST MENTION

|| Al                  || hypothetical father          || 073 ||
|| Amur                || hypothetical father          || 073 ||
|| Andy                || hypothetical                 || 029 ||
||<-2> anxious young adults, isolation, cynicism       || 103 ||
|| asset-framing       ||                              || 073 ||
|| Atsushi Watanabe    ||                              || 097 ||
|| Atticus             || Bruneau son                  || 040 ||
|| Ben                 || hypothetical                 || 029 ||
|| Bernie              || Sanders                      || 035 ||
|| Bill                || Bruneau  father              || 023 ||
|| Bill                || Gates                        || 033 ||
|| Boris Johnson       || UK Prime Minister            || 049 ||
|| Boston Firefighters || accused of faking injuries   || 079 ||
|| CBT                 || Cognitive Behavioral Therapy || 043 ||
|| Charles Schultze    || economist                    || 051 ||
|| Chris Inglesias     || Unity Council CEO            || 064 ||
|| Christina Maslach   || burnout                      || 103 ||
|| Chung               || Sye-kyun                     || 023 ||
|| Clara               || Bruneau daughter             || 040 ||
|| Clinica de la Raza  ||                              || 064 ||
|| Colleen             || hypothetical                 || 030 ||
||<-2> conversation scavenger hunt                     || 106 ||
|| Cranbrook School    || Michigan private school      || 072 ||
|| David Byrne         || Talking Heads                || 076 ||
|| David Bornstein     ||                              || 071 ||
|| Diogenes            || of Sinope                    || 016 ||
|| Donald              || Medley                       || 018 ||
|| Eileen              || Megan's mother               || 034 ||
|| Emile               || Bruneau                      || 001 ||
|| ER Murrow H.S.      || Brooklyn                     || 052 ||
|| !FaceTime           || dodopaddle app               || 059 ||
|| Fixes               || NYT column                   || 076 ||
|| Franck Boviert      || Stanford Rugby               || 089 ||
|| Frank Jude          || Milwaukee beating 2004       || 050 ||
|| Fred Bryant         || psychologist                 || 066 ||
|| Freedom House       || nonpartisan org.             || 049 ||
|| Frederick           || Niezche                      || 008 ||
|| Fruitvale           || Oakland ICE targer           || 050 ||
|| FTX                 || crypto$ 2019-2022            || 050 ||
|| Geoff               || Cohen                        || 027 ||
|| George              || Bernard Shaw                 || 030 ||
|| George              || Carlin  comedian             || 038 ||
|| George              || Floyd  police murder         || 035 ||
|| Grameen Bank        ||                              || 075 ||
|| Guy Smiley          || Zaki nickname                || 043 ||
|| Harold              || Megan's father               || 034 ||
|| Hephaestus          ||                              || 007 ||
|| hikikomori          || Japanese  total isolation    || 097 ||
||<-2> humans can't NOT change [[  |  ]]                        || 087 ||
|| Instagram           || dodopaddle app               || 059 ||
|| Janet Lewis         || Stanford women's rugby       || 090 ||
|| Jean-Paul Sartre    ||                              || 073 ||
|| Jesus               ||                              || 017 ||
|| Karen               || Douglas  psychologist        || 035 ||
|| Lake village        || Leibbrant study              || 046 ||
|| Landon              || Zaki wife                    || 043 ||
|| Leibbrant           || Andreas Leibbrant PhD        || 046 ||
|| Libby Schaff        || Oakland mayor                || 050 ||
|| Linda               || Bruneau schizo mom           || 039 ||
|| Logan Lane          || student                      || 052 ||
|| Luddite Club        || Logan Lane                   || 060 ||
|| Mano Japan          || high trust neigborhood       || 040 ||
|| Mary                || Ainsworth  psychologist      || 036 ||
|| Megan (pseudonym)   || Q                            || 033 ||
|| Mikura Japan        || low trust neigborhood        || 040 ||
|| Mycroft             || Holmes                       || 015 ||
|| Mohammed Yunus      ||                              || 075 ||
|| Naikan              || a form of self reflection    || 105 ||
|| negativity bias     ||                              || 102 ||
|| no close friends    || 15% of US men                || 098 ||
|| Ocean village       || Leibbrant study              || 046 ||
|| Pandora             ||                              || 007 ||
|| Penninsula          || private school               || 055 ||
|| Piedmont            || rich community               || 050 ||
|| Pontiac Michigan    ||                              || 072 ||
|| Ralph Waldo         || Emerson                      || 026 ||
||<-2>[[ https://reasonstobecheerful.world/ | Reasons to be Cheerful ]] || 076 ||
|| Robert Axelrod      || UMinn poly sci               || 084 ||
|| Robin Dreek         || 2002 FBI spycatcher          || 083 ||
|| Samantha Moore-Berg || Emile's lab colleague        || 058 ||
|| Seamless            || food delivery app            || 104 ||
|| secret introvert    || time alone when lecturing    || 101 ||
|| Sherlock            || Holmes                       || 015 ||
|| SJN                 || network                      || 077 ||
||<-2> social shark attacks                            || 106 ||
|| solutions           || journalism                   || 076 ||
||<-2>  Stanford actually friendly, ugly self-image    || 102 ||
|| Stasi               || East German police           || 049 ||
|| Stephanie           || Bruneau                      || 008 ||
|| Sue                 || hypothetical                 || 030 ||
|| talk to strangers   || fun surprise, new friends    || 100 ||
|| !TeleHelp Ukraine   ||                              || 076 ||
|| Theranos            || healthtech 2003-2016         || 050 ||
|| Thomas              || Megan's boyfriend            || 035 ||
|| Thomas              || Hobbs                        || 006 ||
|| Tina Rosenberg      || NYT columnist                || 076 ||
|| Tinder              || dodopaddle app               || 053 ||
|| Tit for Tat         || program, generous TFT better || 085 ||
|| Trabien Shorters    || black poor gifted            || 072 ||
|| trust powerful      || builds connections           || 086 ||
|| Twitter             || dodopaddle app               || 060 ||
|| Unity Council       ||                              || 064 ||
|| Upworthy            ||                              || 069 ||
|| Vanessa Bohns       || influence neglect            || 081 ||
|| Vivek Murthy        || US Surgeon General           || 099 ||
||<-2>Voting Rights Florida ex-felons                  || 078 ||
|| Walter              || Cook                         || 018 ||
|| !WeWork             || coworking 2010-2023          || 050 ||
|| William             || of Orange                    || 024 ||
|| World Happiness     ||                              || 066 ||
|| WORTH               || Women Overcoming Recidivism  || 076 ||
|| Zeus                ||                              || 007 ||
|| Zumba classes       ||       [[  |  ]]                       || 064 ||


||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              ||     ||
||                     ||                              || 203 ||


---------
-Line 30:
+Line 164:
- .p017 the real [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes | Diogenes ]] helped people and would despise the Diogenes Cl[[  |  ]][[  |  ]]ub.
+ .p017 the real [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes | Diogenes ]] helped people and would despise the Diogenes Club.
-Line 49:
+Line 183:
- .p029 [[  |  ]]
 .p030 [[  |  ]]
 .p030 [[  |  ]]
 .p031 [[  |  ]]
 .p031 [[  |  ]]
 .p035 [[  |  ]]
 .p039 [[  |  ]]
 .p042 [[  |  ]]
 .p043 [[  |  ]]
 .p043 [[  |  ]]
 .p044 [[  |  ]]
 .p045 [[  |  ]]

----
 .'''p046 Chapter 3.  Preexisting Conditions'''[[  |  ]]
 .p047 [[  |  ]]
 .p049 [[  |  ]]
 .p050 [[  |  ]]
+ .p030 valorize: enhance value
 .p030 cynics wise less often, poor at identifying liars
 .p031 [[ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29993325/ | the cynical genius illusion ]]
 .p031 real wisdom when people know what they ''don't'' know.  Think more like a skeptical scientist, less like a accusing lawyer
 .p032 cynics prone to conspiracy theories, skeptics less prone
 .p032 Author is suspicious skeptic - low faith in people, high faith in data
 .p035 [[ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31810465/ | The Fall of the Cabal ]]
 .p039 Skepticism bedrock of  Emile Bruneau's career as a scientist
 .p042 [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon#Identity_of_Q | Q ]] promised arrests of politicians and stars, failed, Megan left QAnon and repaired her life
 .p043 Landon challenged Zaki to defend his cynicism like a scientific hypothesis, experiment with hopeful cynicism
 .p043 now secure with Landon, still insecure with parents
 .p044 Cynicism house arrest, not self defense
 .p045 shared "Stanford imposter" feelings with colleagues, who also opened up

----
 .'''p046 Chapter 3.  Preexisting Conditions'''
 .p046 Brazilian cutthroat lake village and cooperative ocean village; latter required big collaboration, trust resulted
 .p049 During COVID, British citizens locked down, funerals forbidden, while [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson | Boris Johnson ]] [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partygate | partied ]]
|| .p050 COVID vaccination in<<BR>><<BR>>wealthy Piedmont >80%,<<BR>><<BR>>in poor Fruitvale 65%,<<BR>><<BR>>where Latinos were<<BR>><<BR>>8 times more likely<<BR>><<BR>>to have positive PCR tests || {{ attachment:FruitvalePiedmont.png }} ||
-Line 100:
+Line 235:
+ .p091 [[  | Loud trust ]]