‘In today’s context, the number is legion. And the reason….is too obvious to be stated.’ What is the unstated reason for the ever increasing number of cynics?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

What do we mean when we call someone a cynic? The reference is to a morose person, a snarler, or to the one who takes a pessimistic view of human motives and actions. In today’s context, its number is legion. And the reason for its ever increasing number is too obvious to be stated. But cynicism is not a new concept. A cynic was one of a sect of philosophers founded by Antithenes of Athens born in 444 B.C. It was characterized by an ostentatious contempt for riches, arts, science and amusements—so called from their morose manners. Although not much is known about the cynicism practised then, it was nevertheless a social movement. But the cynic of our own times is a different person. Riches, arts, science and amusements do not bother him, but he has no contempt for these either. Cynicism today is the direct result of continual failings of the governments on practically all fronts and it is further reinforced because of what many call the nauseating political atmosphere prevailing in the country. The avowed aim of this essay is to examine the growth of cynicism in India in the post-independence period. “Half a century of self-rule brought many governments to fore, but no actual governance”. But before growth, I must allude to advent. Advent, consciously or sub-consciously refers to something having definite contours: a thing or things that can be easily identified or even quantified, like we say, ‘advent of spring’ or ‘advent of an era’. Sometimes, we even refer to a person’s arrival as advent. This is because the arrival of such a person happens to be a momentous event. Advent of Gandhi on the Indian political scene, for instance was a momentous event. We call it advent because his arrival is actually a harbinger of something more momentous to follow.
But advent of cynicism! It will be difficult, nay some might even say impossible, to give it any contour or even an indisputable definition. In the face of such a formidable stumbling block, to talk of advent of cynicism is bound to raise many an eye-brow. Nonetheless, the intent of this essay is indeed to talk about the advent of cynicism. I must, however, hasten to inform the reader that he should not expect emergence of any gigantic entity from the Spiritus Mundi. There is no second coming here, even though the environment is no less ripe than it was to Yeats. Only, he had a myth to fall back on, we have no such pretensions here. Instead, we have the stark realities to draw upon for our dissertations and to draw conclusions therefrom. Thus far if we have traversed on the same wavelength for the sake of understanding, if not for anything else, we can now embark upon the journey proper into the world of cynicism and its advent.

Question

Multiple choice

‘In today’s context, the number is legion. And the reason….is too obvious to be stated.’ What is the unstated reason for the ever increasing number of cynics?

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

What do we mean when we call someone a cynic? The reference is to a morose person, a snarler, or to the one who takes a pessimistic view of human motives and actions. In today’s context, its number is legion. And the reason for its ever increasing number is too obvious to be stated. But cynicism is not a new concept. A cynic was one of a sect of philosophers founded by Antithenes of Athens born in 444 B.C. It was characterized by an ostentatious contempt for riches, arts, science and amusements—so called from their morose manners. Although not much is known about the cynicism practised then, it was nevertheless a social movement. But the cynic of our own times is a different person. Riches, arts, science and amusements do not bother him, but he has no contempt for these either. Cynicism today is the direct result of continual failings of the governments on practically all fronts and it is further reinforced because of what many call the nauseating political atmosphere prevailing in the country. The avowed aim of this essay is to examine the growth of cynicism in India in the post-independence period. “Half a century of self-rule brought many governments to fore, but no actual governance”. But before growth, I must allude to advent. Advent, consciously or sub-consciously refers to something having definite contours: a thing or things that can be easily identified or even quantified, like we say, ‘advent of spring’ or ‘advent of an era’. Sometimes, we even refer to a person’s arrival as advent. This is because the arrival of such a person happens to be a momentous event. Advent of Gandhi on the Indian political scene, for instance was a momentous event. We call it advent because his arrival is actually a harbinger of something more momentous to follow.
But advent of cynicism! It will be difficult, nay some might even say impossible, to give it any contour or even an indisputable definition. In the face of such a formidable stumbling block, to talk of advent of cynicism is bound to raise many an eye-brow. Nonetheless, the intent of this essay is indeed to talk about the advent of cynicism. I must, however, hasten to inform the reader that he should not expect emergence of any gigantic entity from the Spiritus Mundi. There is no second coming here, even though the environment is no less ripe than it was to Yeats. Only, he had a myth to fall back on, we have no such pretensions here. Instead, we have the stark realities to draw upon for our dissertations and to draw conclusions therefrom. Thus far if we have traversed on the same wavelength for the sake of understanding, if not for anything else, we can now embark upon the journey proper into the world of cynicism and its advent.

As the population of the world is on the rise, so is the population of cynics.
There are more and more people taking to the philosophy of cynicism which is contributing to increased number of cynics.
As the reason is unstated, obvious or not obvious, there is no justification for it.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Accepted Answer

Loss of confidence in governments’ ability to deliver has resulted in distrust of the establishment and this trust deficit has led to inflating the number of cynics. This is the case all over the world and is too obvious to be stated.

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