Telling the Truth

Bit deeper than some of the other posts so far...

So what would happen if we were actually honest all the time?
Could the world even function, without us deliberately avoiding being truthful some of the time? Surely avoiding being truthful is one reason why corporations succeed, why we have millionaires, and why we persist with each other.

The downside though - ignoring poverty, the continuance of suffering around the globe, divorce, unhappiness. Its a pretty long list really, I don't know if I should continue adding to it...

Sure truth can be like an onion - layers and layers before you eventually reach the complete absence of fiction. However I think this is a human construct, to justify not telling it like it is, or rather, at least the way we see it. If man could not lie and had only the ability to speak his mind, would we really fall into a vicious circle of mutual annihilation? Would man not realise that he has to leave behind all the insecurities, the fear, the anxieties if he no longer had the ego-massaging, sugar-coated pleasantries?

Sure you can argue about the development of civilisation, manners, public behaviour, custom, ritual etc etc, but we all know none of these things change human nature and what we think. They just act to modify our behaviour, make us appear to believe one thing when we may well believe something quite different. Desires, needs also fall victim to this social development pattern - western society places a lot of emphasis on appearing to be in control ( a lie, usually ) and having control over your personality. Frequently in the arena of personal relationships, things fall apart because the truth is avoided, usually due to fear of rejection or other insecurity surrounding self-perception. The 'falling apart' can happen gradually, as the cracks start to appear, where it becomes harder and harder to maintain the perceived reality of the situation that you've created.

Love is probably the only thing I can think of that conquers all: complex beast though it is, what else allows you to hear the truth and survive? When you have love you can conquer fear, and all the other demons slink back into the shadows too.

Sure love ain't easy. How can you hurt someone in the name of love? People do, but then it either ain't really love, or the other person's ego is bruised and they're not really fatally wounded: love will heal the wound. A bit like religion, love can require faith, since we poor humans can't always 'see' the love and therefore doubt that its there sometimes. This can be tackled by putting love at the centre of your life, making it the focus - you can use love as your compass and you'll never get lost.


This has kind of gone off in a direction I wasn't exactly expecting, surprised myself a bit - however I like the direction, I think I'll keep it ... :-)