I guess one needs to question the cause in order to predict the effect on any one person.

For example, what kind of person are you now? Do you bump against every obstacle in life or do you tend to take them in your stride and move forward? Do you follow all the bad news on the television and wring your figurative hands about all the terrible things that are happening in the world every day, or do you only concern yourself about the news that affects you directly? Are you critical of others or do you accept their being different to you?

I think, perhaps, we are beginning to see a picture here, don’t you?

Of course, I can’t say whether cynicism is better than pragmatism or the other way round. Or perhaps they are equally good or bad. What I do believe, however, is that the pragmatist appears to be calmer and happier and therefore, I think, likely to live longer than the cynic. Maybe you’ve looked at the images and decided that you don’t want to live longer!

If so, I guess you’ve got a point, but if living longer is the price for being happier, I’ll go for the pragmatic.