How To Be More Hopeful In A Cynical World - Dr Jamil Zaki - #841

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, friends, welcome back to the show. My guest today is Dr. Jamil Zaki. He's a psychologist, professor at Stanford University, and an author. In a world filled with fake news, bad news and doom, it's easy to become cynical. But what does science say about whether cynicism helps or harms us? Why is it so seductive and how can we all learn to become a bit more hopeful? Expect to learn why people are so tempted by cynicism, how scepticism is different, if cynical people are more or less happy, healthy, intelligent or successful, whether there is a reason to feel more hopeful, the role of optimism in your life, how to cultivate more positivity and much more. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I'm a massive fan of this. I want to make enthusiasm great again as I try and detox myself of negativity and Dr. Zaki not only shares my desire to make people a bit more positive, but he actually knows some science too. So an awful lot to take away from today. This episode is brought to you by 8 Sleep. I have been using my 8 Sleep mattress for years and I literally cannot imagine life without it. Having a actively cooled and heated mattress is the game changer. Now they've launched their newest generation pod, the Pod 4 Ultra. The Pod 4 Ultra can cool down each side of the bed up to 20 degrees below room temperature, keeping you and your partner cool. And for those of you who snore heavily, it can detect your snoring and automatically lift your head a few degrees to improve your airflow and stop it. This is your 3000 stuff. It cools, it heats, it elevates, and it is clinically proven to give you up to one hour more of quality sleep every night. Best of all, they're shipped to the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe and Australia. You can get $350 off the Pod 4 Ultra by going to the link in the show notes below or heading to 8sleep.com/modernwisdomusing the code Modern Wisdom at checkout. That's eightsleep.com/modernwisdom and Modern Wisdom at checkout. I've been loving my cold plunge and sauna from the team over at Plunge. I literally use them every single week because the benefits of hot and cold contrast therapy make me feel fantastic. I have more energy during the day, sleep better at night and recover faster after hard workouts. Plunge's Evolve collection includes four brand new offerings made to fit your lifestyle, space and goals. The new Plunge Pure Pro Chiller uses state-of-the-art technology to filter water and chill it at the same time. The all new Plunge Air is amazing if you're looking for a lightweight, space-efficient option. You can connect it to the Plunge pop-up for maximum portability and affordability or go with the XL Plunge Pro for their signature style. Best of all, they offer a 30-day return policy so you can buy it and try it and get cold for 29 days and if you do not like it for any reason, you can send it back. Head to plunge.com/modernwisdom and use the code MW150 for $150 off any purchase. That's plunge.com/modernwisdom and MW150. A checkout. It's important to me that the supplements I take are of the highest quality and that's why for over three years now I have been drinking AG1. Taking care of your health should not be complicated and AG1 simplifies this by covering all of your nutritional bases and setting yourself up for success in just 60 seconds per day. Their ingredients are heavily researched for efficacy and quality and I love that every single scoop also includes prebiotics, probiotics and digestive enzymes for gut support. I've partnered with AG1 for so long because they make the highest quality product that I genuinely look forward to drinking every day. So if you want to replace your multivitamin and more, it starts with AG1. Try AG1 and get a year's free supply of vitamin D3 and K2 plus five free AG1 travel packs with your first subscription at www.drinkag1.com/modernwisdom. That's www.drinkag1.com/modernwisdom.
But now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Dr. Jamil Zaki.
Why do people tend towards cynicism? Why is it so alluring?

**Jamil Zaki** (4:26)
Well, it's a great question. Maybe let's define cynicism first, just so we have our terms straight. The way that psychologists like me refer to cynicism is different than the ancient Greek school of philosophy, led by antistenes and diogenes. We can talk about that all you want in a moment, but as psychology now defines cynicism, it's a theory about people. The idea that in general, people are selfish, greedy and dishonest, and therefore we might not want to trust them. Now, why do we tend towards thinking this way, to your question? I think that this is actually a pretty ancient bias in the way that our minds work. Something that researchers call negativity bias. So it turns out that our minds are built such that we pay much more attention to harmful or threatening information than to the good stuff. So we pay more visual attention to threats than to positive information. We remember negative events more than positive ones, and we make decisions more based on what we'd like not to lose than what we would like to gain. And you can see how this bias might be there for a reason. It might have helped us survive, maybe 200,000 years ago. A person who was worried about a predator on the horizon might do better than their friend who was blistered out by the sunset on the opposite horizon. So a useful bias in some ways, but one that I think has gotten us in a lot of trouble in our modern context.