by Mr. Tiny Brain

Created on: January 13, 2009

Well, its always wiser to tell the truth if you think you're going to get caught anyway. In theory its not a bad idea, but as you can tell from the bell curve, very, very few of us could actually accomplish this even if we tried. It becomes even more difficult when you try to narrow down exactly what the truth is. Is the truth just what you observe, or does it include what you believe? When you tell the truth are you able to censor or color it in any way or would the truth about a certain incident always have to be expressed exactly the same way?

The question of telling the truth all the time in real life depends on what you hope to accomplish. Is it your intent to be the best person that you can be? To be an ideal citizen who avoids harming others whenever possible? Do you want to tell the truth in order to support your country or society? You really need to know why you want to do something or you'll never be able to accomplish it. You need to be able to believe in what you're doing. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to construct ethical questions that would make it difficult to decide that telling the truth is an honorable choice.

So I need to state at this point that I believe in telling the truth, Just not all the time and not the complete truth. Its an odd statement for someone who was a Cub Scout leader for almost twenty years. The easiest way to help someone understand my intent would be to explain some of the exceptions to the need to tell the truth.

There are people who can't handle the truth. Some people ask questions about their appearance or their worth as a person. I'm not really qualified to answer these questions but the people asking wouldn't appreciate that answer. I believe it can be helpful in these instances to search for an answer that provides positive reinforcement. This may involve avoiding the actual question asked while providing something of value to the questioner.

Another instance may be times where the truth is being used by those with evil intent. Contrary to popular belief liars don't always lie. Con men find that their cons are more effective if they stick as close to the truth as possible. There have been times where I have known that people were using the truth and people who try to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth as pawns. I do my best to avoid being used that way.

Sometimes I just try to save my own skin. We're not perfect beings. I'm probably less perfect than a large percent of the population. So when I make a mistake I may try to avoid the consequences of my action. Yes, there are times that I "Step up like a man", but there's also times I'm just a weasel. Never ask me about my wife's red dress in public. It could be fatal to someone with a big mouth.

Another interesting thing is that there are times that you're not allowed to tell the truth. In trials even though attorneys and judges ask for the whole truth they often phrase questions specifically to prevent you from doing just that. Surveys, questionnaires, and electronic media are often guilty of the same thing.

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