Speech is silver, silence is golden. — Arabian proverb
How does one control how their actions impact the world when none of us have a definitive knowledge or right and wrong - a perfect moral compass by which to make decisions — Benj96
I'm gonna respond in practical sense. No need to use philosophy or psychology. And you know, I know myself -- I shoot my mouth and then hope for "good" consequence.Should you lie to bolster their confidence. Or would you simply be undermining them by being dishonest? And how do you know if your own judgement of fashion is better than theirs?
Which option makes you a more supportive friend? — Benj96
Full stop. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone that cannot handle criticism. That would limit my ability to be myself around them, so I see their frail self-esteem a detriment to others ability to think and speak freely.Consider you and your friend are getting ready for a night out. They come downstairs dressed up and ask “what do you think?”
You look at them and instantly think god they don’t look particularly good at all, what they’ve done is unflattering in your opinion and you would not wear that.
You consider how happy your friend seems to be with how they look. You are also aware that they value your opinion a lot but you know they are sensitive, their self esteem a little frail, and criticism can often get them down and upset. — Benj96
I would be asking this of the person that has a self-image problem. How does your low self-esteem affect your friendships in that it seems to limit your friends ability to be themselves. Some people like blunt honesty and some don't. I tend to let those that don't like blunt honesty find new friends. I prefer hanging out with real people that will be honest with me and allow me to be honest with them as I value truth over feelings.Should you lie to bolster their confidence. Or would you simply be undermining them by being dishonest? And how do you know if your own judgement of fashion is better than theirs?
Which option makes you a more supportive friend? — Benj96
Exactly. Right and wrong have to do with our individual goals and not some objective feature of reality that exists apart from our goals. When someone inhibits our goals we see that as unethical. When someone promotes our goals we see that has ethical. It is more difficult to be ethical with someone who has emotional problems - whose goals are inconsistent (I want you to be honest with me, but only if it doesn't hurt my feelings) which makes it difficult to say and do the right things. We call this "walking on egg-shells".It got me thinking about decision making in general. Can we ever be properly informed? As imperfect beings how do we know when to intervene and when to be passive? Are good intentions enough by themselves? How does one control how their actions impact the world when none of us have a definitive knowledge or right and wrong - a perfect moral compass by which to make decisions — Benj96
Then they shouldn't be asking what others think if they are only care about with what they think. When someone asks what someone else thinks about something and they don't really want to know what they think then,Sincerely ask them if they like it? And if they seem really happy then support them no matter what anyone else thinks? — SatmBopd
It got me thinking about decision making in general. Can we ever be properly informed? As imperfect beings how do we know when to intervene and when to be passive? Are good intentions enough by themselves? How does one control how their actions impact the world when none of us have a definitive knowledge or right and wrong - a perfect moral compass by which to make decisions — Benj96
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