We have all seen those court room TV dramas where a witness has to swear to “Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Our society has grown tired of all the political spin to distort the truth and one has to be a little bit naïve to believe that the news is unbiased and telling you the whole truth. Imagine a society where the truth was the norm and in fact enforced as a public responsibility, in a similar way that speed is enforced on our roads. Recent advances in neuroscience are making that a possibility. Sam Harris in his book “The Moral Landscape” points out that “deception is the principle enemy of human cooperation”.
We often think one thing and say another. In fact, part of us developing a mature personality requires us to do that. Regulating our responses, to something more socially acceptable than what may be rumbling around in our heads, is a learned skill. Sometimes, we also deliberately distort the truth to say things in a way to minimise the hurt that the blatant truth may cause. However, communication is compromised when we constantly distort what we say, to be different to what we mean. Honest, open communication is key to good communication. Rather than making assumptions about how the other person may react and what they probably think, it is best to communicate in such a way that we are clear about what we feel and think and genuinely listen to understand what the other party feels and thinks. Hopefully we never get to the stage where everything we say is electronically tested and judged. Unless what we mean, will genuinely cause unnecessary hurt, we should speak the truth and say what we actually mean, to improve our communication.
We often think one thing and say another. In fact, part of us developing a mature personality requires us to do that. Regulating our responses, to something more socially acceptable than what may be rumbling around in our heads, is a learned skill. Sometimes, we also deliberately distort the truth to say things in a way to minimise the hurt that the blatant truth may cause. However, communication is compromised when we constantly distort what we say, to be different to what we mean. Honest, open communication is key to good communication. Rather than making assumptions about how the other person may react and what they probably think, it is best to communicate in such a way that we are clear about what we feel and think and genuinely listen to understand what the other party feels and thinks. Hopefully we never get to the stage where everything we say is electronically tested and judged. Unless what we mean, will genuinely cause unnecessary hurt, we should speak the truth and say what we actually mean, to improve our communication.
RSS Feed
