• Sheik Yerbouti
    12
    Let us compare truth with lies. When somebody lie to us, it can have a negative emotional effect on us depending upon the lie we were told or the person who lied to us or the the circumstances in which we were lied and numerous other reason which are beyond the requirement of this discussion. For let's imagine the worst case scenario : somebody very close to you, lied to you concerning a very significant matter while you were going through a very bad time. The worst thing that could follow would be that you would never have guts to trust any one ever in your life and you would start hating the person who lied to you as much as it is in your capability to do so. Imagine the same with truth now. For example someone very close to you, told you a brutal truth about yourslef concerning a very significant matter (let's say he blamed you for the death of someone very close to you) that you refused to acknowledge throughout but he did it in a way that now you other option bit to acknowledge. The worst that could follow would be that you would start hating yourself as much as you can do. My reason say that what happened in the second case was worser than what happened in the first case.
    So is it safe to conclude that at times are worser than lies as truth at time make you hate yourself which is harsher reality than hating soemone else in case of lies. If yes then is it safe to say that people don't truly wanna know themselves and choose to be ignorant.
  • RegularGuy
    2.6k
    If yes then is it safe to say that people don't truly wanna know themselves and choose to be ignorant.Sheik Yerbouti

    I tend to agree. It’s difficult to look in the mirror.
  • PoeticUniverse
    1.3k
    people don't truly wanna know themselvesSheik Yerbouti

    There is a meta solution. One needn't regret or feel pain for what had to happen in actuality, this thus obviating "if's", "should have's", etc.
  • RegularGuy
    2.6k
    There is a meta solution. One needn't regret or feel pain for what had to happen in actuality, this thus obviating "if's", "should have's", etc.PoeticUniverse

    That is the philosopher’s excuse. With that line of thinking, no one would change for the better.
  • PoeticUniverse
    1.3k
    That is the philosopher’s excuse. With that line of thinking, no one would change for the better.Noah Te Stroete

    They've already achieved better than all the hating described above.
  • Andreas Greifenberger
    9
    If yes then is it safe to say that people don't truly wanna know themselves and choose to be ignorant.Sheik Yerbouti

    There may be many people who choose to be ignorant, but not all of them, I believe.
    Sometimes of course, the truth may hurt, and sometimes we may all of us unconsciously choose not to know, simply because we are not strong enoough to bear the truth. But then I can feel in myself the strong desire for truth, even if it may be unpleasant.
    All in all, I find it to be too one-sided to say that people generally choose to be ignorant.
  • tim wood
    9.3k
    Don't confuse the thing itself with the consequences of the thing. Often they're joined at the hip, but evenso, they're different. Indeed, sorting out the influences of either lie or truth is no easy matter. You might say, "You lied to me, you made me feel bad!" (or whatever). But the problem is with the "made." if it made you feel bad, then the question is how and why it made you feel bad. Failure to give these some attention is to make others responsible for your feelings, as well as leaving your feelings hostage to others. Neither is the sign of a mature person, but of a child.
  • Janus
    16.3k
    The greatest feelings of humanity are not on account of our knowledge, but of our ignorance.
  • deletedusercb
    1.7k
    Though where the balance point is on the spectrum of not being affected by unpleasant treatment ->being thrown for a long time by it, I don't know. We are social mammals. It is part of our nature to be affected by the esteem or negative reactions of others. These things have pracitical consequences, often, also. IOW if people treat us poorly or disrespectfully, this may lead to practial problems at work, at home, at leisure. I agree that one must look at how and why it made you feel bad, to the degree it made you feel bad, but in a sense we are hostage to each other because those of us not psychopaths do care about what others think and feel about us and how they treat us. If the reaction is too much - and the rub is determining what amount that is - there may be stuff from childhood or assumptions about reality that need to be looked at and transformed. And truly wonderful changes can happen if one does. But there are also forces in society telling us not to feel. So I am wary of dealing with this as pathological, because of course we get upset at such things. You didn't use the word pathological. I am placing your points in the wider context of a society where there is pressure say one is doing 'great' or at least 'fine' even when one is not, to get medication for all sorts of emotional patterns, to present oneself via social media in the best of all possible lights and as having a great life.
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