Skepticism vs. Cynicism

I went to the Faith and International Development Conference this weekend at Calvin College. I feel that I did not learn as much as I did last year, but that is to be expected I guess with attending the same conference twice. Anyhow, one of the breakout sessions I went to was with Compassion International and Scott Todd spoke. I thought that the things he had to say were very moving and well said, but there was one thing that stood out to me.

He mentioned in the beginning of his presentation that he was a skeptic. When he was a young toddler his mother gave him the nickname "the judge" because he was always serious and never smiled. He went onto explain that there was a difference between being a skeptic and a cynic and it is important to not confuse the two. He said that a cynic is someone who stays in the negative, maybe they even thrive in it while a skeptic is someone who naturally doubts or has a questioning attitude about things that are normally taken at face value. I had never really thought about the difference between the two and it made me wonder which form I side with. I'd like to think that I'm more of a skeptic but when I google def'd the word cynic, I saw things like, "a cynical feeling of distrust," "a person who believes people are motivated by selfishness," and "someone who is critical of the motives of others." I will admit that I think this way sometimes. I have a generally distrusting attitude toward people and I question people's motives more often than not. But, I'm also skeptical of the information I hear and what people tell me but, is it because I'm a cynic that I naturally doubt and have a questioning attitude. Are these two qualities interchangable? How do I make the distinction?

Anyway, that for sure wasn't the point of his entire presentation but it stuck out to me and I figured it was worth tossing around in this little box. More about the conference later I'm sure.