Skeptic or cynic?

I followed PBS' Gwen Ifill on a speaking platform yesterday.  

She was, as expected, witty, insightful, thoughtful, and a tough act to follow.

Much of what she said in her wide-ranging survey of the times we live in was relevant to my work on Otherwise.

For example, her thoughts on the difference between a skeptic and a cynic.  "A skeptic asks questions," she said. "A cynic has all the answers."  

Sadly, it appears we are becoming a nation of cynics.

Iffil said that when she speaks to young people, she's often asked how she can stand to share a stage with people she obviously disagrees with. The question saddens her.

She tells them they should always enter a conversation -- or even an argument -- open to the possibility that they'll learn something.

She calls it being "open to unlikely outcomes."