Honesty.
Can we be too honest?
Certain questions pop up in life that you can’t really seem to find the answer to. You just have to accept the fact that you’ll just have to find out yourself. Not that you actually will find out, but hey, at least we’re trying!
One might argue with me here that no, you can’t ever be too honest. Because honesty is, well, you know, the right way. But then I ask you, where do you start talking? Where do you draw the line? Where does it become something that no-one else necessarily has to know? You know, that moment where it’s best to just.. shut up.
I’d like to know what our reader(s) think of this. Give me your honest opinion on the question: Can we be too honest?
My opinion? I think not.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Well, to be honest: you seem to mix-up honesty and openness… One should always be 100% honest. But sometimes one can, indeed, be too open. If I see a co-worker in a new dress and think ‘holy smoke, what an awfull dress’, not saying so is all about openness: there is no gain in being open then. But if my colleague asks me for my opinion about the dress I will answer honestly. As you Dave, I do not believe in ‘white lies’ but rather in the right dosage of openness.
May 24th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Interesting approach. I indeed did not think about the separation of openness and honesty. Though one might argue the border between when something stops being related to openness, and starts being about honesty.
May 24th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Consider openness and honesty as the two axes of the communication matrix. X = openness, Y = honesty. Then (see that)there is no ’stop on openness’ = ’start on honesty’. They are two seperate ‘dimensions’… In fact, any consideration of what can/should/could be said will always have these two seperate unrelated evaluations, wether you are aware of it or not. To be honest: your hair looks awfull today…
May 25th, 2008 at 12:36 am
…today?
Quite interesting to see that you used a mathematical approach to explain this problem, not too soon after the TV Show ‘Numbers’ –which you strongly disliked– ended. Is there a hidden hint in there?
Anyhow, I know what you mean. They kinda go hand-in-hand, the two. Still, an interesting subject to discuss on, I think. I’ll try to make more posts like this, and see where they go.
May 25th, 2008 at 1:18 am
Say, if I follow your mathematical approach, does this mean that the more open you are, the more honest you are? And visa versa? Would that mean that, if you decide to not share something with someone, it automatically means you’re being less honest? If this is the case, then the little white lies just found their way back into our truthful lives :).
May 25th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Hell no, you stupid boy! Oops, too open? But realy, no. I said it is a matrix, with X-Y axes. This means both are lineary unrelated! You can be less open without being less honest and vice versa. The interesting part is to find out where the non-lineary relationship between the two ends, or rather: meets.
Honesty is a state, a principle. Openness is a measurable aspect of behavior. Apples and pears. Yet, both fruits! Now I turned mathematics into behavioral philosofy… Bite that!