2013-11-30, 20:02 | Link #2 |
Absolute Haruhist!
Artist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Age: 37
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A truthful person doesn't exist and shouldn't, because it is impossible to not lie and impossible to live without lying.
If people can be nice to one another then we'll have world peace without even being truthful.
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2013-11-30, 20:11 | Link #3 |
1.048596
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Location?
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First, I'm going to assume mutual exclusiveness between nice and truthful people, in that a "nice person" will discard the truth in favor of being nice; the truthful person will be assumed the same but in reverse, the truth held over being nice. I'm then also going to define a truthful person as someone who will strive for truthfulness, their M. O. if you will, and likewise the nice person is someone who will strive for being nice. Neither the truthful person nor the nice person is always truthful or always nice, respectively.
Also, I'm going to assume that both truthful and nice person are acting positively toward our subject as well, so that both the nice person and truthful person are aiming to preserve our subject's overall well-being. With this in mind, I will then state that a truthful person, under most circumstances, is better. Someone truthful can be relied on much more for their honest opinion, and ultimately will have more influence over one's life. You know that if you ask them about something, they will likely give an honest and ultimately "right" response to a great many topics, such as relationships, finance, and ultimately just about any dilemma. Therefore, because of their ability to impact one's life honestly, a truthful person is better than a nice person, since someone nice is just someone to feel good talking too. You can't honestly trust their opinion, and their influence is therefore fleeting. Now, sometimes we don't want to hear the truth quite yet under some circumstances. For example, when going through the end of a relationship, death, etc. In this case, we seek out the nice person and should honestly favor their intent to that of the truthful person, as we should. With this in mind, let's redefine my original statement as such: An truthful person is better under circumstances of more rational thought, in regards to topics that affect the long term and have less emotion involved. However, a nice person is better for situations where there is much emotion present affecting the immediate and short terms of one's life.
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2013-11-30, 20:20 | Link #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Age: 37
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If this is an either/or situation, where you can either be a nice person who isn't truthful or a truthful person whose only good point is being truthful, then I'd pick 'a nice person.' Kindness is a good quality and also encompasses important traits like loyalty. Being 'truthful' isn't that wonderful a thing if you're a piece of shit otherwise.
If I take the question a bit less stringently, I do place more personal importance on being kind than being straightforward. A lack of the former bothers me more than a lack of the latter, and I'm sensitive enough to interpersonal strife and drama that being unfailingly blunt would probably keep me in a constant state of wanting to slit my throat open due to the fallout that would result (ie hurting other people's feelings, making them pissed off or otherwise bent out of shape, and so on). With that said, though, I do try to be coldly honest whenever I feel that it's absolutely necessary and have grown more blunt as I've gotten older, though I'll probably always be more of a people pleaser than a straight shooter. |
2013-11-30, 22:03 | Link #5 |
Lumine Passio
Author
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Hanoi, Vietnam
Age: 18
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Now, that is quite the rashness of you for setting up this poll. A truthful person IS a nice person, for he is the one who only wants the best for you by saying out the truth. It's like a Phoenix, beautiful in both the Inside and Outside.
If you could change this thread name into "Who would you prefer to be: A Person who always speaking out of the truth no matter what; or A Person who disguises the truth in words that don't hurt people?", it would much be appropriate. And beside, excluding some cases, the one who don't want to listen to the truth is nothing more than trashes. After all, isn't it human's hungerness for the truth is what push we forward? |
2013-12-01, 02:46 | Link #6 |
Knight Errant
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Dublin, Ireland
Age: 36
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I'll take truth. I want to be able to believe what I hear. I often feel anxious that people are lying to me when I do something wrong in order to be "nice". I want to know when I do something wrong (politely of course).
I think an organization where people are "nice" to each other but not truthful, is one that will run itself into a ground, because it will be run on fantasies. All that said, it's better to be "both" whenever possible, and if you tell the truth, you should be nice about it. |
2013-12-01, 06:02 | Link #8 |
Senior Guest
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Athens (GMT+2)
Age: 35
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You can be both...but if there is a situation in which you must either be blunt and tell the truth or settle things with a subtle lie, I'd definitely go for the latter. You shouldn't stir people up if you can avoid it, and the best truth is always the one people want to hear
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2013-12-01, 06:26 | Link #10 |
Yurippe is mai waifu
Join Date: Sep 2006
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It's nice to be both, but I'd very much rather be truthful if I had to choose. As someone else said, it's cool to be nice, but it's ultimately the truthful, honest people who have more of an impact on the people around them. Nice people (or, at least people who act nice) are a dime a dozen, but truthful people are hard to come by.
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2013-12-01, 06:33 | Link #11 |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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If you are going to spend your life being rated by others on how nice or truthful you are, then what are you living for?
We are all different, and have different motivations that encourage behaviour that sets us apart from the rest. You can't please everyone; haters gonna hate. Best is still to be yourself. You may not be able to make a person like you, but you CAN make him/her respect you through acting on your beliefs and forging deep ties common interests. That is what is important.
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2013-12-01, 08:18 | Link #15 | |
Banned
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Quote:
Anyway, my choice is being "truthful", that is being honest and true to what you say or do. I wanted the person infront of me to know me as a person who THEY CAN TRUST. Being "nice" is also good but why "act nice" if you see and hear isn't nice at all. Want to wear a mask and tell a awfully fat person that "hey, you look nice".. just to flatter they and not hurt their ego? It's easy to be nice than be truthful.. so I choose the one which is rare to have. Whose opinion do you value? Yours or theirs? ^^ |
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2013-12-02, 00:33 | Link #18 | |
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Quote:
Nice is a little bit more subjective, but in the end, your understanding of what nice is will determine how you go about striving to be nice. |
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2013-12-02, 07:34 | Link #20 | |
NYAAAAHAAANNNNN~
Join Date: Nov 2007
Age: 35
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Quote:
That is why I highlighted cognitive dissonance - some people can convince themselves they are telling the truth. Especially people who have images to uphold, like religious leaders, stars, lawyers, politicians, etc. They use the term "economical with truth". In their eyes, it contains truth, therefore it is true. I call it "bull minus shit" because with some "live-and-let-go", it can be taken as low-quality beef instead of bovine faeces. Though personal limit still stands; the speaker of such is one step closer to a 1x-good-one. So you don't use a merit-rating system when it comes to hearing opinions?
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