A daring escape from cynicism: Scientist explains why “hopeful skeptics” are outsmarting doomers

I don’t think I’ve ever been so blunt with an author as I was when I spoke with Stanford neuroscientist and professor Jamil Zaki about his new book, “Hope for Cynics: The Surprising Science of Human Goodness.” This thing is more than good — it might as well be required reading for anyone who wants to stay sane in a fractured and frightening world, without sticking their own head in the sand or denying the often harsh data about the state of the world. And again, I think that it's one of these interesting things that actually binds people on both the left and the right who are just basically fed up with how things are going. I'm not here as some sage on the stage trying to tell you, “Here's how it really is, and you've gotten it all wrong.” I'm in this place with the reader and I think that there are so many reasons to feel like things must change. I think sometimes people feel as though it's their moral duty to feel really sh**** all the time, but actually feeling really sh**** makes it less likely that you'll do anything that helps.