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[faffingabout]

Dear Teacher,

I disagree. I understand the generalization you were trying to make when you said that our culture, for instance, encourages honesty. I just do not understand why you did not admit it or accept it as a generalization and instead promoted it as a cold-hard fact. Our culture encourages honesty. "Well, do we really?" Do you remember? I'

Comments

[bycitylights]

We promote self interest, imo. We want to hear things that benefit ourselves - good news, compliments, etc, whether or not they may be dishonest or half-truths (which are still, in essence, a dishonesty.) We don't want to hear about the bad things, and consider bluntness - regardless of truth - to be rude, so we honestly want nothing to do with them and therefore don't promote them. We promote social etiquette to cover dishonesty.

BUT THAT IS THE CYNICAL VIEWPOINT.

[faffingabout]

Oooh especially according to an economist viewpoint, self interest moves our society along and forward. Cobana's anecdote for her point was one time that her granddaughter wanted to steal something from her aunt's house, and by laying out the consequences of that action Cobana discouraged her dishonesty. I think that might fall into dishonesty--but a lot does--I'd be more inclined to say she discouraged stealing. And that I'd be inclined to agree with to some extent, since because of self interest (OOOOH I CIRCLED ON THIS DID YOU SEE THAT) we really don't like stealing mostly

[faffingabout]

Mhhhmmmm hmmmmmn. Someone put this beauty: http://www.marthanorwalk.com/laughs/parakeet/parakeet.html into a forwarded email with a nice little note at the bottom that says something like "Your friend is someone who stayed by your side the whole time."

What bullshit. Artists everywhere are seizuring over that lie.

What's more, though, I do not need to see that crap in Anthropology. YOUR EMAIL IS NOT MY BUSINESS, LADY.

[shotgundivorce]

It sounds like she means out-and-out lying and stealing and--Jesus, I don't know--murdering (although you can probably murder someone in a fairly honest fashion) rather than, you know, actual human behaviour. At their grass-roots, every culture on the planet promotes survival of the fittest. Which has nothing to do with honesty or dishonesty and rather more to do with, hey, being human. You promote the idea of being a good person and tell yourself that in order to be a good person you have to be an honest one--but in labelling yourself a good person, you somehow automatically become honest. At which point, 'honesty' ceases to mean anything. But then you have to ask why you wanted to be a good person in the first place. The answer will still eventually come full circle and stick at self-interest.

Hands up who can tell I was in a bad mood when I wrote this and that I will never believe in altruism?