This note is inspired by a recent House episode. A gist of it - Mr.X has a temporal lobe disorder, leaving him with a weird disability that forces him to say all he thinks, with no control whatsoever. Mr.X, who was earlier well perceived, goes on a rampage, telling his wife, daughter, collegues and doctors that they suck in their own unique way, ruining all relationships. This got me thinking - how important is it to be genuine? Is it wrong to bitch inside and flatter outside?
One would think it's better, in fact, to always be a sugar coated suck up or just be plain silent on the outside, whatever scornful thoughts your mind churns on the inside. Afterall, at the end of the day, it makes everything seem perfect. People fall for it, feel good about themselves, fell good about you for making them feel good about themselves, reciprocate in cash, kind or words. Everyone is happy (provided, of course, that you're good at deceit and people remain vulnerable).
On the flipside, it also means there's noone policing your thoughts. The idea that transparency and openness act as an effective check and balance, applies not only to governments or corporates, but to thoughts as well. Only if you've the balls to tell a friend when you think he's being dumb or ugly (the rule being - if you think it, say it), will it result in him being pissed off/ defend himself, which will most likely get you to retrospect on your opinions & thoughts and your friend on his beauty & brains, and possibly, the world ends up with two saner people or you with one lesser friend. In effect, this leads to, what I'd call, a moral evolution, with continual inputs from others, hopefully, making one a better person.
I haven't reached a conclusion yet, but I am leaning towards brutal clinical truth.
