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Study: Stop Being So Cynical, You Could Give Yourself Dementia
concertina226 (2447056) writes "Scientists from the University of Eastern Finland have found that people who have high levels of cynical distrust are three times as likely to suffer from dementia in later life, than those who have more faith in other people. Their study is the first of its kind to look at the relationship between cynicism and dementia. Entitled: 'Late-life cynical distrust, risk of incident dementia, and mortality in a population-based cohort', it is published in the latest issue of the journal Neurology. Over a period of eight years, the researchers studied 1,499 people, who all had an average age of 71. The participants were given tests for dementia and a questionnaire to measure their level of cynicism, based on the Cook-Medley Scale."
... but is it cause and effect? Or effect and effect? Could the very high levels of cynical distrust be a result of some malady that eventually causes the dementia?
Oh god, that woman is John Romero!
Read the actual study. It's a possible correlation (of a very few people). There is no clear indication of causation.
Seems these people and the OP have already given themselves stupidity...
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Reading about bogus 'studies' like this makes me more cynical than ever, thus giving me dementia.
As having not read TFA Ive no idea what they are trying to sell me
...those sneaky bastards.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't in my opinion.
First, wait what was I talking about?
Just about all studies are crap anyway. Why would this one be any different?
... all those cynical bastards were faking dementia just to fuck with the study.
Why should one not be cynical? The human race has never given cause for one to be otherwise. Besides, cynicism is not necessarily related to hostility or anger, which makes the Cook-Medley test nonsensical.
Unless, of course, that the study calls 'cynicism' is not cynicism at all.
--- Andy West http://andywest.org
Those who are gullible and trusting continue to be exploited and abused by their fellow man. People aren't born cynical. They've had their trust betrayed repeatedly and, quite rationally, conclude that humans cannot be trusted.
I don't believe it.
Maybe people who blindly trust everyone never get identified as having dementia, because they just go along with everything you say?
Now get off my lampshade!
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
How come "all had an average age of 71" ? What's your average age? Is it different from mine?
Did they take into account the relative levels of alcohol and caffeine consumption between the two groups into account?
Nothing reduces cynicism like sitting back and sipping a good single malt scotch.
Part 1 is that cynicism causes dementia.
The second part of the study, to be released next month is that they have developed a new variety of loganberry (available for a very reasonable price) which will significantly extend life expectancy, and improve performance in the bedroom.
So critical thinking leads to dementia?
Or do we notice more when people with high mental function lose it than those who never had good thinking skills in the first place?
What's their angle?
http://www.cardia.dopm.uab.edu/study-information/nhlbi-data-repository-data/cardia-documentation/year-05-exam-3
that guy blathers extremely cynical conspiracy theories 24/7/365 and all those poor fools stupid enough to listen are doomed to dementia
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
I'm fucked.
I might posit that cynicism is a coping mechanism for the dementia-impaired.
If you're optimistic in this world you are already delusional so how would they tell if you're suffering from dementia?
Eastern Finland have found that people who have high levels of cynical distrust are three times as likely to suffer from dementia
But can you trust the Finns?
You know you are a dip-ship when you call people 'humans'. Like that distinction needs to be made, ever. Unless you are comparing humans to non-humans (in sci-fi) like robots.
Watch less TV, talk to more PEOPLE.
What is exercised the most becomes the strongest.
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
1. Stress
2. Alcohol/Drug Use
3. Depression
4. Nutrition/Excercise
... I'm pretty demented now!
Nonaggression works!
Tell you what... If you stopping making up misleading headlines I'll try and not be so cynical about them.
I might just be cynical [har har har], but there is something about a group saying "hey, if you don't just trust what people are telling you, you will one day become crazy". I would rather end up a little crazy in my later life than become too optimistic. A little bit of cynicism keeps you from being taken advantage of too much.
It's like the government funding a study that finds that if you question what the government says or does, you're more likely to end up with Alzheimers. So you better stop complaining and believe everything we say.
Just keep drinking the Kool-Aid. Apparently they put anti-dementia meds in it.
Keep your hippy happy bullshit to yourself. Seriously, fucking die screaming.
Call my cynical, but I don't trust any studies from the University of Eastern...refrigerator!
A conversation, even online, is not a syllogism.
Conversation requires context and shared assumptions. Of course those are often not shared, not fully understood, there can be willful disagreement, misunderstandings, and simple sloppiness.
All of this activates the typical Slashdot amateur logicians and philosophers who set out to 'prove' the other person is ignorant, stupid, evil or all of those. A pointless exercise repeated ad nauseum.
Of course the statement you posted is 'stupid'. (technically it simply not a logically valid argument.) It is trivially 'stupid' because the word 'need', in a logical sense, allows any alternate possibility. (A stealth version of affirming the consequent.) We could reduce our dependence on foreign oil by killing 90% of the population. Oil dependence - problem solved. Oops! New problems.
TLDR: It's all in the assumptions. And yours are wrong.
Further reading: GEB, to see how even syllogisms fall apart or spiral out of control without SOME shared context and assumptions.
90% of everything is crap. This law is recursive.
I'm screwed.
So, let me get this straight.
1. I don't want dementia
2. So, according to some article somewhere (SAS), I should engage in reading, writing, and other various activities to keep my mind active (See the "Keeping the mind active to protect from Alzheimer's and dementia" on http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/263769.php, for example)
3. So, I read. I mix my reading up with fiction, quasi-fiction, and scientifically based nonfiction. It doesn't matter very much what it is I read, it pretty much all suggests that everybody is just doing what's best for themselves. Try it yourself. Try to think about what motivates any person you've ever met. I always find they have some personal reason driving them, whether it's immediately apparent to everyone or hard for they themselves to even determine.
4. Therefore, thanks to my quest to prevent dementia, I've become cynical.
5. Then, I happen upon this article (in my quest to keep my mind reading so I don't get dementia): http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/study-stop-being-so-cynical-you-could-give-yourself-dementia-1450422. Let me see which social networking sites I should share this article with so all my friends can come visit this site. Oh, look, the article has no less than 9 ads embedded on the single page - some of which seem to be very related to recent Google searches I've performed. Hmm, is someone trying to make a buck off me by summing up one single scientific study which was just published yesterday? Wait, that is just me being cynical.
6. Then, I figure it all out. Cynicism does, in fact, lead to dementia. Dementia is my mind's way of telling me, "That's it. I give up. Everything really is shit. You do what you want, but I'm shutting down. Good luck trying to figure anything out in this batshit crazy world, jackass."
7. Then I forget everything and slowly die the same miserable death I was trying to avoid in the first place. Go figure. No wonder I'm so cynical...
I'll just book my reservation at the nursing home now. Why wait until I'm 71?
What do you think about that?
People are always telling me I'm "cynical", whatever that means. I mean, either you're right or you're wrong; and if you're right, how is that "cynical"?
-- Gary Brecher, the War Nerd
Yeah, right.
You are welcome on my lawn.
So in other words.. You'd better drink societies Kool-Aid and smile all the time or else they'll start calling you crazy.
* Cynical interpretation of TFA.
I have faith in everyone.
I have faith in people to be shit, to be naive, to be malicious and corrupt.
I have faith in people to be nice only when it suits them.
But I also have faith in people to be nice in general.
So, if I expect people to be shit, would that be the same?
How would this change the results?
How exactly are they going to reduce my risks for dementia by changing my behavior and outlook on life? Are they going to convince me to:
* Forget all the stuff I've ever learned that had such a clear influence to lead me to becoming the cynical person I am now?
* Alter the way I communicate and the language I use so I don't get caught in the traps of cynicism anymore?
* Convince me to stop focusing on and paying attention to all the stuff that I usually do which tends to keep me cynical?
* Work with me to change my ability to reason and the judgments I make so I am no longer cynical?
* Convince me to view the world in a less cynical light?
That way, they could try to trick me into behaving like I have dementia so that I don't develop actual dementia (http://www.alz.org/what-is-dementia.asp). I guess nobody else will know the difference, but technically I'll be ok. Ok, Fine. How much is that treatment going to cost me?
I trust them about as much as I trust the Price of Nigeria.
I'm reminded of similar studies showing that by various members, people suffering from depression tend to have more accurate assessments of themselves and others, are better at predicting the results of a particular plan, etc.
Being aware of what is actually going on is just a recipe for personal misery. Delusional mooncalves may be less successful, but they're a lot happier.
They failed to control for MANY important things and ended-up with a probably false correlation/causation conclusion.
For example: It is known that devout religious Christians and Jews tend to be less cynical and tend to live longer (No assertion by me over whether THESE things are linked and, if so, which leads to which) but this needs to be controlled for by people involved in things like the study currently being discussed. It could just be that they have discovered the same correlation hiding under a different methodology AND failed to advance anything by failing to further pursue the study of whether this is pure coincidence or a valid linkage, and which is the cause and which is the effect.
"Scientists from the University of Eastern Finland have found that people who have high levels of cynical distrust are three times as likely to suffer from dementia in later life, than those who have more faith in other people."
In other words, they're trying to pin the blame on someone other than dealing with the same issues they have in the first place like any other country on it's way to first-world status.
Yea, good fucking luck, assholes.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I don't buy into this optimism/cynicism dichotomy. I buy into a truth/honesty vs bullshit/lies dichotomy. Reality is how it is, and while it is malleable in some ways, it is not in others. Many times people equate the latter as bad news or 'cynicism' rather than a reality check, and don't listen.
... dementia is the highest level you can achieve of not giving a shit about anything anymore.
I call bullshit!
From the Devil's Dictionary: Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are not as they ought to be.
Too much poorly-buffered contact with harsh reality probably wears your mind down.
Perhaps it is that for the sort of person who actually trusts their fellow human, it is hard to tell when dementia strikes.
Whether for happiness reasons or Seligman's optimism ratio, optimism is clearly better for almost everyone. It doesn't matter if you're an idiot who doesn't know any better... or someone who creatively finds an optimistic way to perceive the tragic mess that is life. ;)
I try to become more cynical every day, but lately I just can't keep up. -- Lily Tomlin (She's only 74 but sharp as ever. YMMV)
Well, here's one possible effect and cause scenario that occurred to me.
Start with a healthy person who has a generally positive view of humanity.
Above the threshold reached at the age of reason (mental age ~7) when we begin to see the flaws in ourselves and others, I think it takes more mental energy to have a generally positive view of humanity than to fall back on cynicism. I agree with others that we may be seeing an indicator of pre-dementia rather than a cause of dementia.
I've lived over fifty years in this country and cynicism is at an all-time high. But strangely enough, so is credulity.
You've lived for fifty years in Finland?
We've become a nation of cynical suckers.
Oh, you're American. I'm sorry. Does anyone know why Slashdot's lameness filter can't handle my SARCASM tags?
I'm fucked!
the stress will kill you.
People tend to get demetia as a result of brain age in cases where their bodies don't check out first. My hypothesis is that cynicism correlates with good physical health and a long life terminated only by the action of entrophy on the CNS.
I would probably cynically mistrusting if I felt I was losing my memory. If you can't trust your own judgment anymore, who are you going to trust? I'd probably try to keep a lot of polaroids with notes around. And tattoos.