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 . Jamil Zaki . 2024 . 149 ZAK . Beaverton Library  . [[ https://www.jamil-zaki.com/ | Jamil Zaki ]] . 2024 . 149 ZAK . Beaverton Library
 . Dr. Zaki is professor of psychology at Stanford University and director of the [[ http://ssnl.stanford.edu/ | 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

|| Thomas || Hobbs || 006 ||
|| Zeus || || 007 ||
|| Hephaestus || || 007 ||
|| Pandora || || 007 ||

|| Stephanie || Bruneau || 008 ||
|| Sherlock || Holmes || 015 ||
|| Mycroft || Holmes || 015 ||

|| Jesus || || 017 ||
|| Walter || Cook || 018 ||



|| William || of Orange || 024 ||
|| Ralph Waldo || Emerson || 026 ||
|| Geoff || Cohen || 027 ||


|| Sue || hypothetical || 030 ||
|| George || Bernard Shaw || 030 ||
|| Megan || Q || 033 ||

|| Harold || Megan's father || 034 ||
|| Eileen || Megan's mother || 034 ||

|| Thomas || Megan's boyfriend || 035 ||
|| Karen || Douglas psychologist || 035 ||
|| George || Floyd police murder || 035 ||
|| Mary || Ainsworth psychologist || 036 ||
|| George || Carlin comedian || 038 ||
|| Linda || Bruneau schizo mom || 039 ||
|| Mano Japan || high trust neigborhood || 040 ||
|| Mikura Japan || low trust neigborhood || 040 ||


|| Landon || Zaki wife || 043 ||
|| Guy Smiley || Zaki nickname || 043 ||

|| Leibbrant || Andreas Leibbrant PhD || 046 ||
|| Frank Jude || Milwaukee beating 2004 || 050 ||
|| Libby Schaff || Oakland mayor || 050 ||

|| Logan Lane || student || 052 ||
|| Fred Bryant || psychologist || 066 ||
|| Upworthy || || 069 ||

|| Samantha Moore-Berg || Emile's lab colleague || 058 ||
|| Vanessa Bohns || influence neglect || 081 ||
|| Robin Dreek || 2002 FBI spycatcher || 083 ||
|| Trabien Shorters || black poor gifted || 072 ||

|| Janet Lewis || Stanford women's rugby || 090 ||
|| Tina Rosenberg || NYT columnist || 076 ||



|| Al || hypothetical father || 073 ||
|| Amur || hypothetical father || 073 ||
|| Andy || hypothetical || 029 ||
|| 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 ||

|| 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 ||
|| Cranbrook School || Michigan private school || 072 ||

|| David Byrne || Talking Heads || 076 ||
|| David Bornstein || || 071 ||
|| Diogenes || of Sinope || 016 ||
|| Donald || Medley || 018 ||

|| Emile || Bruneau || 001 ||

|| Fred Bryant || psychologist || 066 ||
|| Freedom House || nonpartisan org. || 049 ||
|| Frederick || Niezche || 008 ||
|| FTX || crypto$ 2019-2022 || 050 ||


|| Lake village || Leibbrant study || 046 ||
|| Ocean village || Leibbrant study || 046 ||
|| Stasi || East German police || 049 ||
|| Freedom House || nonpartisan org. || 049 ||

|| !WeWork || coworking 2010-2023 || 050 ||
|| Theranos || healthtech 2003-2016 || 050 ||


|| Fruitvale || Oakland ICE targer || 050 ||
|| Piedmont || rich community || 050 ||


|| ER Murrow H.S. || Brooklyn || 052 ||
|| Facebook || dodopaddle app || 053 ||
|| Tinder || dodopaddle app || 053 ||
|| Penninsula || private school || 055 ||


|| Instagram || dodopaddle app || 059 ||
|| FaceTime || dodopaddle app || 059 ||
|| Twitter || dodopaddle app || 060 ||
|| Luddite Club || Logan Lane || 060 ||


|| Unity Council || || 064 ||
|| Zumba classes || || 064 ||
|| World Happiness || || 066 ||

|| Upworthy || || 069 ||

|| Jean-Paul Sartre || || 073 ||


|| Pontiac Michigan || || 072 ||
|| asset-framing || || 073 ||

|| Grameen Bank || || 075 ||
|| Mohammed Yunus || || 075 ||


||<-2>[[ https://reasonstobecheerful.world/ | Reasons to be Cheerful ]] || 076 ||
|| Fixes || NYT column || 076 ||
|| WORTH || Women Overcoming Recidivism || 076 ||
|| !TeleHelp Ukraine || || 076 ||
|| solutions || journalism || 076 ||
|| SJN || network || 077 ||
||<-2>Voting Rights Florida ex-felons || 078 ||
|| Boston Firefighters || accused of faking injuries || 079 ||

|| Robert Axelrod || UMinn poly sci || 084 ||
|| Tit for Tat || program, generous TFT better || 085 ||
|| trust powerful || builds connections || 086 ||
||<-2> humans can't NOT change || 087 ||
|
|

|| hikikomori || Japanese total isolation || 097 ||
|| no close friends || 15% of US men || 098 ||
|| Vivek Murthy || US Surgeon General || 099 ||
|| talk to strangers || fun surprise, new friends || 100 ||
|| secret introvert || time alone when lecturing || 101 ||
||<-2> Stanford actually friendly, ugly self-image || 102 ||
|| negativity bias || || 102 ||
||<-2> anxious young adults, isolation, cynicism || 103 ||

|| Seamless || food delivery app || 104 ||
|| Naikan || a form of self reflection || 105 ||
||<-2> social shark attacks || 106 ||
||<-2> conversation scavenger hunt || 106 ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || ||
|| || || 203 ||






Line 11: Line 198:
 .p001 [[ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/02/opinion/emile-bruneau-dead.html | Emile Bruneau ]] died 2020 age 47
Line 12: Line 200:
 .p003
 .p004
 .p004
 .p005
 .p005
 .p007
 .p009
 .p009
 .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 [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Social_Survey | 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.
Line 25: Line 213:
 .p015
 .p016
 .p017
 .p018
 .p020
 .p020
 .p021
 .p021
 .p025
 .p025
 .p026
 .p026
 .p027
 .p028
 .p015 Mycroft Holmes more talented, but "no ambition and no energy" and a disdain for humanity
 .p016 Mycroft Holmes co-founded [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes_Club | Diogenes Club ]]
 .p018 "big-C Cynicism" opposite of misanthropy and "small-c cynicism"
 .p017 the real [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diogenes | Diogenes ]] helped people and would despise the Diogenes Cl[[ | ]][[ | ]]ub.
 .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 [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cook%E2%80%93Medley_hostility_scale | 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 [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autarky | autarkeia ]] self-sufficiency
 .p026 [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-Reliance | Self-Reliance ]] 1841 essay by [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Waldo_Emerson | Ralph Waldo Emerson ]]
 .p026 Stanford's [[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_L._Cohen | 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
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 .p029
 .p030
 .p030
 .p031
 .p031
 .p035
 .p039
 .p042
 .p043
 .p043
 .p044
 .p045

----
 .'''p046 Chapter 3. Preexisting Conditions'''
 .p047
 .p049
 .p050
 .p051
 .p052
 .p053
 .p053
 .p054
 .p060
 .p061
 .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 [[ | ]]
 .p042 [[ | ]]
 .p043 [[ | ]]
 .p043 [[ | ]]
 .p044 [[ | ]]
 .p045 [[ | ]]

----
 .'''p046 Chapter 3. Preexisting Conditions'''[[ | ]]
 .p047 [[ | ]]
 .p049 [[ | ]]
 .p050 [[ | ]]
 .p051 [[ | ]]
 .p052 [[ | ]]
 .p053 [[ | ]]
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 .p060 [[ | ]]
 .p061 [[ | ]]
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 .p077
 .p069 [[ | ]]
 .p069 [[ | ]]
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 .p077 [[ | ]]
Line 88: Line 282:
 .p079
 .p080
 .p084
 .p089
 .p091
 .p092
 .p079 [[ | ]]
 .p080 [[ | ]]
 .p084 [[ | ]]
 .p089 [[ | ]]
 .p091 [[ | ]]
 .p091 [[ | Loud trust ]]
 .p092 [[ | ]]
Line 100: Line 295:
 .p097
 .p100
 .p100
 .p101
 .p102
 .p103
 .p103
 .p104
 .p105
 .p105
 .p106
 .p107
 .p107
 .p108
 .p110
 .p111
 .p113
 .p097 [[ | ]]
 .p100 [[ | ]]
 .p100 [[ | ]]
 .p101 [[ | ]]
 .p102 [[ | ]]
 .p103 [[ | ]]
 .p103 [[ | ]]
 .p104 [[ | ]]
 .p105 [[ | ]]
 .p105 [[ | ]]
 .p106 [[ | ]]
 .p107 [[ | ]]
 .p107 [[ | ]]
 .p108 [[ | ]]
 .p110 [[ | ]]
 .p111 [[ | ]]
 .p113 [[ | ]]
Line 120: Line 315:
 .p115
 .p116
 .p116
 .p118
 .p119
 .p123
 .p123
 .p125
 .p125
 .p126
 .p129
 .p115 [[ | ]]
 .p116 [[ | ]]
 .p116 [[ | ]]
 .p118 [[ | ]]
 .p119 [[ | ]]
 .p123 [[ | ]]
 .p123 [[ | ]]
 .p125 [[ | ]]
 .p125 [[ | ]]
 .p126 [[ | ]]
 .p129 [[ | ]]
Line 134: Line 329:
 .p130
 .p131
 .p136
 .p138
 .p138
 .p139
 .p142
 .p143
 .p143
 .p144
 .p145
 .p145
 .p130 [[ | ]]
 .p131 [[ | ]]
 .p136 [[ | ]]
 .p138 [[ | ]]
 .p138 [[ | ]]
 .p139 [[ | ]]
 .p142 [[ | ]]
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 .p145 [[ | ]]
Line 152: Line 347:
 .p153
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 .p153 [[ | ]]
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 .p165 [[ | ]]
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 .p171
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Line 169: Line 364:
 .p185
 .p191
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Line 193: Line 388:
 .p262 Emile Bruneau  .p263 Emile Bruneau

Hope For Cynics

The Surprising Science of Human Goodness

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

Thomas

Hobbs

006

Zeus

007

Hephaestus

007

Pandora

007

Stephanie

Bruneau

008

Sherlock

Holmes

015

Mycroft

Holmes

015

Jesus

017

Walter

Cook

018

William

of Orange

024

Ralph Waldo

Emerson

026

Geoff

Cohen

027

Sue

hypothetical

030

George

Bernard Shaw

030

Megan

Q

033

Harold

Megan's father

034

Eileen

Megan's mother

034

Thomas

Megan's boyfriend

035

Karen

Douglas psychologist

035

George

Floyd police murder

035

Mary

Ainsworth psychologist

036

George

Carlin comedian

038

Linda

Bruneau schizo mom

039

Mano Japan

high trust neigborhood

040

Mikura Japan

low trust neigborhood

040

Landon

Zaki wife

043

Guy Smiley

Zaki nickname

043

Leibbrant

Andreas Leibbrant PhD

046

Frank Jude

Milwaukee beating 2004

050

Libby Schaff

Oakland mayor

050

Logan Lane

student

052

Fred Bryant

psychologist

066

Upworthy

069

Samantha Moore-Berg

Emile's lab colleague

058

Vanessa Bohns

influence neglect

081

Robin Dreek

2002 FBI spycatcher

083

Trabien Shorters

black poor gifted

072

Janet Lewis

Stanford women's rugby

090

Tina Rosenberg

NYT columnist

076

Al

hypothetical father

073

Amur

hypothetical father

073

Andy

hypothetical

029

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

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

Cranbrook School

Michigan private school

072

David Byrne

Talking Heads

076

David Bornstein

071

Diogenes

of Sinope

016

Donald

Medley

018

Emile

Bruneau

001

Fred Bryant

psychologist

066

Freedom House

nonpartisan org.

049

Frederick

Niezche

008

FTX

crypto$ 2019-2022

050

Lake village

Leibbrant study

046

Ocean village

Leibbrant study

046

Stasi

East German police

049

Freedom House

nonpartisan org.

049

WeWork

coworking 2010-2023

050

Theranos

healthtech 2003-2016

050

Fruitvale

Oakland ICE targer

050

Piedmont

rich community

050

ER Murrow H.S.

Brooklyn

052

Facebook

dodopaddle app

053

Tinder

dodopaddle app

053

Penninsula

private school

055

Instagram

dodopaddle app

059

FaceTime

dodopaddle app

059

Twitter

dodopaddle app

060

Luddite Club

Logan Lane

060

Unity Council

064

Zumba classes

064

World Happiness

066

Upworthy

069

Jean-Paul Sartre

073

Pontiac Michigan

072

asset-framing

073

Grameen Bank

075

Mohammed Yunus

075

Reasons to be Cheerful

076

Fixes

NYT column

076

WORTH

Women Overcoming Recidivism

076

TeleHelp Ukraine

076

solutions

journalism

076

SJN

network

077

Voting Rights Florida ex-felons

078

Boston Firefighters

accused of faking injuries

079

Robert Axelrod

UMinn poly sci

084

Tit for Tat

program, generous TFT better

085

trust powerful

builds connections

086

humans can't NOT change

087

| |

hikikomori

Japanese total isolation

097

no close friends

15% of US men

098

Vivek Murthy

US Surgeon General

099

talk to strangers

fun surprise, new friends

100

secret introvert

time alone when lecturing

101

Stanford actually friendly, ugly self-image

102

negativity bias

102

anxious young adults, isolation, cynicism

103

Seamless

food delivery app

104

Naikan

a form of self reflection

105

social shark attacks

106

conversation scavenger hunt

106

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 Cl]][[ub.

  • 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

  • p042

  • p043

  • p043

  • p044

  • p045


  • p046 Chapter 3. Preexisting Conditions

  • p047

  • p049

  • p050

  • 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

HopeForCynics (last edited 2026-05-09 22:43:13 by KeithLofstrom)