Radical Honesty: Wanna Try It?

[DWill]

Nice duck, DWill, get a discussion going and then change the subject!

I profess my innocence. I just thought the piece was very funny. (Really)

[seespotrun2008]

I just thought the piece was very funny. (Really)

It is really funny. But also something really interesting to think about.

[DWill]

I just thought the piece was very funny. (Really)

It is really funny. But also something really interesting to think about.

That's why what Jacobs does isn't a total goof. In the interview I heard him do about The Year of Living Biblically, he said that he went into the experiment as a non-believing, secular Jew with a somewhat derisive attitude toward the religious. After the project was over, he was changed to the extent that he realized that religious people weren't caricatures and that there was validity in their way of life.

[seespotrun2008]

After the project was over, he was changed to the extent that he realized that religious people weren't caricatures and that there was validity in their way of life.

That sounds interesting. I will have to check it out.

[The Ritzy]

I thought the piece was funny but I don't think I could be "radically" honest. I'm stupidly honest. In other words, I'm honest when Blanton thinks it's acceptable to lie. I don't lie to authority figures, nor to the IRS.

For example, a police officer stopped me and asked if I ever had a speeding ticket before. I, on instinct, held up one fimger and said "Yes, sir."
But he did let me go with only a verbal warning.

I, of course, try to be honest with my family and friends. But not honest to the point of breaking their hearts.

[bluet]

I strive to be honest, but I have noticed that I have to be selective about my honesty in different relationships, how far I can go in being radically honest. Thus, I tend to be more honest with my daughter (who can take it) than my sister (who can't). Maybe this is deceptive, but it works for family harmony. I also believe in the "white lies", where you tell someone something so that you don't hurt their feelings. I try not to have to do that, but it becomes necessary at times. I am being totally honest here.

[tbarron]

In reading this thread,
Two rules come to mind:
1) Say nothing untrue.
2) Say nothing unkind.

This may sometimes require
Creativity
But isn't that the point?
To be the best I can be?

[President Camacho]

Is true honesty selfless, selfish, or neither?

[Suzanne]

Honesty can be selfish. If you have some sort of confession to make, or secret to get off your chest because it will ease your mind and give comfort to you, but will hurt the person you are confessing to, I think you need to step back and examine your movtives. A person also needs to know the difference between honesty and gossip. If I knew a friend, or neighbor was having an affair, it is no business of mine to be radically honest and tell the spouse. This would be gossip. A family member in this situation may be different, but that would depend on how close I am to them.

I think radical honesty works best when you are dealing with yourself and it may be the hardest thing to do.

[etudiant]

Radical honesty is a noble idea, but like many similar concepts, problematic in practice.

Most people are a writhing mass of unresolved personal issues, subconscious needs, insecurities, uncertainties, and imperfect memory. These are usually covered over with a thin laminate of competencies, accommodations, and socially and politically correct behavior. Finding a rock-solid truth in all this can be a strenuous expedition sometimes.

We are all on a dizzying trip through time and space, and if we can approximate any fundamental truth, it is that we really don’t know much about the trip, its reasons, if there are any that we might recognize, or even the observed objects that we see as we pass. This induces vertigo in some, and they begin building up their layer of laminate, hoping this will be protective. Others can manage a grin and a thumbs-up sign as they tumble along.

If you think this extreme, try this. Sit in a chair a couple of feet away from someone else, facing them directly, and just say whatever pops into your mind; allow your stream of consciousness to flow, uninhibited and uneditorialized. See how long you last before you catch your “editor” making some at least subtle changes.

No, the human mind was never designed to be laid bare. Having an editor is a good thing, but the trick is to get to know the editor personally, and know exactly what, and why items are being passed, modified, or tossed in the waste bin.