Be a Skeptic, not a Cynic

With our semester coming to an end and graduation approaching, here are two different perspectives that we weaved into class:

This timeless lesson relates to many of our analyses (Zynga, Groupon, Uber, Casper, Beyond Meat, WeWork, etc.)… see things for what they truly are, not the fluffed story or through an artificially embellished metric.

Then, comedian Charlie Berens’ 2018 UW-Madison School of Journalism Commencement Speech:

It’s a humorous take on perseverance and staying true to self with some fun and characters along the way. He also offers this deeper perspective on skepticism and cynicism starting at 9:51.

Bubbles are built with lies, but bridges are built with truth and truth can only be found in healthy skepticism. …

The cynics rant and rave on Facebook or twitter or whatever… The skeptic, however, will do the work. The skeptic will find the truth which is often messy, it often doesn’t fit nicely into any political narrative … it’s a lot easier, frankly it feels a lot better to be a cynic. …

The skeptic will make the world a better place. The cynic will just try making themselves feel better in a broken world. …”

So it goes.

PB