This post isn’t going to be as deep as you might think…I was just thinking recently about why anyone (myself) uses phrases like “to tell you the truth” or “in all honesty” and the like. It’s really something that should be redundant – I mean shouldn’t we always be telling the truth and being honest? The implication being that I was going to lie to you…but then I prefaced it with this certain phrase and so NOW you can expect me to tell you the truth. Don’t we already trust that whatever is being told to us is the truth?
I think what we really mean in these instances is “in the interest of full disclosure”. This implies that at the least there was going to be a lie of omission. Sometimes I think it has more to do with recollection or associative thoughts. I’m recounting something to you and then that reminds me that there is more to the story and so I let you in on what I remembered “in all honesty”.
In the overall, I tend to believe that whatever anyone is saying to me is at the least what they believe to be the truth. I feel that this tends to be the best policy for several reasons. First of all if I expect you to tell me the truth then I think there is a bar that is set that you will have a natural tendency to want to meet. Secondly, it makes me feel good to think the best of people. I also think that if I assume that you are telling me the truth and you are in fact intentionally trying to deceive me then the lie itself will be revealed in some way rather than if I expect you to lie and then try to find the deception instead of just listening to you.
There’s also the fact that when it comes down to it, I don’t really think about it all that much and I’m just going to listen to you anyways!
So where does that leave us?…I believe you and I believe IN you…now don’t let me down!
And now for something completely different…
Peace!
