I think „why bother looking“ is actually defeatism. Maybe they are closely related, but I feel cynicism has more of an „I told you so“ ring to it. In that inter

I think „why bother looking“ is actually defeatism. Maybe they are closely related, but I feel cynicism has more of an „I told you so“ ring to it. In that interpretation, cynicism would be about jaded expectations re the future, while defeatism would be (accompanying?) demotivation. I wouldn’t ascribe demotivation to every cynicist though.