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SecretMethod70 · 09-27-2007, 04:18 AM

I think the discussion here is taking this "radical honesty" to an extreme. I could be wrong, but I don't think the idea is that one should simply run their mouth all the time, any time. However, the idea of "radical honesty" also seems to be that, when faced with being honest or being less so, one should be honest, and fully.

What works for a magazine - an eye-grabbing title such as "I Think You're Fat" - doesn't seem to work as well on discussion forums (surprise, surprise). I think the title has significantly distracted this discussion from the actual content of the article (not to mention that the title, based on what is written in the article, is in no way what "radical honesty" is about).

Now, I'm not really for or against this idea of "radical honesty," but I sure find it interesting. What was only briefly touched on in the article - but what I think is of core importance to this discussion - is how this honesty is supposed to be phrased. It is not supposed to be the first wording that comes to mind. The phrasing is supposed to be something that encourages communication, as opposed to simply the statement of opinion. For example, the story in the article where the author tells his friend "I resent you for not inviting me to your wedding (and this is why)." There's a huge difference between saying that and "You should have invited me to your wedding, jerk."

It seems to me that discussion here started out quite cynical and hasn't gotten past that. I think there's a lot more to this than simply focusing on people who are looking for excuses to be assholes and run their mouth. Indeed, I think the difference (and the fact the difference has not been recognized in this thread) is seen in the two different phrases which have been used here: "radical honesty" vs "brutal honesty." I don't think, based on the little information available in the article, that they are even remotely the same thing. "Brutal honesty" is, in fact, what I think is being discussed most in this thread, while this concept of "radical honesty" is only being treated as a tangential subject.

09-27-2007, 04:18 AM	#62 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	I think the discussion here is taking this "radical honesty" to an extreme. I could be wrong, but I don't think the idea is that one should simply run their mouth all the time, any time. However, the idea of "radical honesty" also seems to be that, when faced with being honest or being less so, one should be honest, and fully. What works for a magazine - an eye-grabbing title such as "I Think You're Fat" - doesn't seem to work as well on discussion forums (surprise, surprise). I think the title has significantly distracted this discussion from the actual content of the article (not to mention that the title, based on what is written in the article, is in no way what "radical honesty" is about). Now, I'm not really for or against this idea of "radical honesty," but I sure find it interesting. What was only briefly touched on in the article - but what I think is of core importance to this discussion - is how this honesty is supposed to be phrased. It is not supposed to be the first wording that comes to mind. The phrasing is supposed to be something that encourages communication, as opposed to simply the statement of opinion. For example, the story in the article where the author tells his friend "I resent you for not inviting me to your wedding (and this is why)." There's a huge difference between saying that and "You should have invited me to your wedding, jerk." It seems to me that discussion here started out quite cynical and hasn't gotten past that. I think there's a lot more to this than simply focusing on people who are looking for excuses to be assholes and run their mouth. Indeed, I think the difference (and the fact the difference has not been recognized in this thread) is seen in the two different phrases which have been used here: "radical honesty" vs "brutal honesty." I don't think, based on the little information available in the article, that they are even remotely the same thing. "Brutal honesty" is, in fact, what I think is being discussed most in this thread, while this concept of "radical honesty" is only being treated as a tangential subject. __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling Last edited by SecretMethod70; 09-27-2007 at 04:21 AM..