( Greek κυνισμός) was originally the philosophy of a group of ancient Greeks called the Cynics ( main article), founded by Antisthenes. Cynics are individuals who maintain that only self-interest motivates human behavior: they are inclined to disbelieve in human sincerity, in virtue, or in altruism. They tend to dismiss a substantial proportion of popular beliefs, conventional morality and accepted wisdom as as unreliable, irrelevant or obsolete nonsense. Wikipedia Read a short passage about skepticism and cynicism from Science on Trial by Marcia Angell.