Study: Stop Being So Cynical, You Could Give Yourself Dementia 153
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."
Wait (Score:4, Interesting)
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?
Re:There's a relationship... (Score:5, Interesting)
You are confusing being "cynical" with having a "closed mind".
I suspect cynical people likely think things through more than those who are very trusting.
Those that are very trusting don't see a need to question and think deeply about things other people say, do, or offer (which is why they end up falling for various scams) until after they get screwed and then, in my experience, they don't learn much from it. Cynics, on the other hand, don't accept something to be true just because someone said it and therefore have to evaluate and think about most everything they hear -- making them think and exercise their brains. Also, when they get screwed in spite of their due caution, they tend to think back as to what they missed about the situation that would have prevented them from getting into it.
Of course, you probably shouldn't trust my insight on this as, being a cynic, I am probably biased (but only cynics will understand that or care about that).