Hailed widely as the founder of cynicism, Diogenes of Sinope was one of the most unconventional and irreverent Greek philosophers of his time. A contemporary of Plato known for living in a ceramic wine jar called a pithos, Diogenes rejected conventional desire in favor of simple, ascetic living; although his philosophy was met with widespread disgust and disapproval, many of his arguments can be applied to our current world of overcomplexity, blind faith, superficiality, and materialism. Following Diogenes’ legacy, we must shed our imposed social norms and extricate our identities from the society that has shaped them to become our genuine selves.

Diogenes championed the power of doubt, a painfully relevant utility in light of the rise of misinformation, peripheral persuasion (persuasion that relies on cues like celebrity endorsement rather than primary sources), and social media echo chambers. For example, Plato’s first definition of a man was “a featherless biped,” whose lack of specificity has spawned a host of internet memes of pictures of “Plato’s Man” (i.e. a T-Rex) in modern times, as well as a now-famous response from Diogenes, who upon hearing this plucked a chicken and entered the lecture room crying, “Behold, a man!”, forcing Plato to change his definition to “a featherless biped with flat, broad nails” and illustrating the often constructive effects of a healthy skepticism. 

Similarly, in the present day, TikTok and social media have notoriously enabled the spread of misinformation, fear-mongering, and witch trial-esque social retribution. For example, videos purporting to be of the Russo-Ukrainian war circulating throughout TikTok were, in actuality, found to have been taken years before the war began or ripped from realistic video games and reposted for the sake of gathering “donations” or accruing millions of views. 

Another instance where cynicism could be applied is in the media’s over-commercialization of controversial topics or celebrities’ lives. Both were prevalent in the media surrounding the 2022 viral Depp v. Heard trial (which was televised and live-streamed) and had damaging real-world effects. Regardless of the verdict, the staggering amounts of hate Heard received perpetuated the demonizing stereotype of women being whistleblowers using domestic abuse claims to attain fame and money. The Depp v. Heard trial was an opportunity to create a more nuanced discussion surrounding domestic violence (such as by increasing awareness for male abuse survivors or exposing its double standards) that instead devolved into a social media circus and content farm. This explosive, exploitative capitalization upon hot news topics for clicks is a prime example of the importance of cynicism and initiative when seeking out reliable news sources.

Diogenes was nicknamed kuōn, or “the Dog,” for his status as a beggar and frequent acts of public defecation. His dedication to living with autarky, or autonomy, can be seen in his interactions with Alexander the Great; upon their first meeting, Alexander offered to grant Diogenes (who was sunbathing at the time) anything in the world he wanted. Despite his epithet, Diogenes refused to be swayed by any promise of material pleasure at the cost of his autonomy, as he replied, “Stand out of my light.” Diogenes’ rejection of Alexander, the ultimate symbol of power and wealth, is a rejection of the commodified, transactional nature of modern relationships. Diogenes’ actions can be interpreted as a condemnation of the “personality market” that the modern dating scene—which emphasizes making oneself as desirable as possible rather than learning to love others more deeply or kindly—has become. This commodification of love and relationships into mutually beneficial exchanges of goods or services (like Alexander’s offer) normalizes detrimental physical insecurities and the “playing it cool” phenomenon (like waiting a few minutes before replying to a text and pretending to not be too interested in someone), where people never want to give or express more love than they receive to maintain their appeal of “unattainability” or “scarcity.” As such, Diogenes’ wisdom warns against relationship commodification, which can result in the toxic romanticization of emotional unavailability, insecure relationships, and emotional distance.

As high schoolers navigating a chronically online existence, contending with the sociocultural forces pushing on our personhood from all sides, and reconciling the warring zeitgeists of hyper-connectedness and plummeting mental health, Diogenes reminds us that to maintain our autarky, we must look past the mirrors of social values that we have become to familiarize ourselves with the inner workings of the society that has shaped us. Only then can we discern for ourselves the truer image.

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