Doubt and be healthy

Be skeptical, not cynical.

Skeptical: Showing or having doubt

Cynical: Contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives

The skeptical citizen can be optimistic in his pursuit of the truth. His motivation is to turn over bureaucratic rocks and see what may be growing underneath.

The cynic, however, is so deeply distrustful that he is pessimistic in his pursuit of the truth. Motivated by the need to prove that his targets are corrupt, the cynic's pessimism may impede his ability to recognize the truth when it is fully disclosed.

This isn't just an exercise in wordplay. As we conclude Sunshine Week, an effort by newspapers across the country to urge openness in government, we endorse a skeptical response to answers provided by those in public service. We believe in the noble pursuit of digging for the truth even though it may lead to cracked fingernails, aching backs and, more painful still, the shocking and humbling discovery that the truth might not be what one expected.

Through the empowerment of citizens by disclosing information critical to their decision making, a skeptical approach to government ultimately advances society.

A cynical approach stunts society's growth. It diverts attention from important goals and divides participants into neutralizing factions. If skepticism is the procedure by which a physician seeks the cause of an illness, then cynicism is a cancer.

We encourage citizens to optimistically pursue the truth with a healthy skepticism. Those who embrace the concept of full personal responsibility will look at themselves in a philosophical mirror and determine if that's a skeptic or a cynic staring back at them, then make the necessary adjustments.

But we also note that personal attitude adjustments go only so far and, in this case, would be less necessary if those at every level of public service shed full light on their meetings and their records in the first place. Information never needs to be pried from the hands of officials intent on serving the people who put them there.