Re: Why believe the truth?

From: Hal Finney (hal@finney.org)
Date: Mon Jun 16 2003 - 21:36:25 MDT

  • Next message: Robin Hanson: "Re: Why believe the truth?"

    Robin writes:

    > You might tell your girlfriend that she is average among the girlfriends
    > you have had, and that you think you are likely to stay with her for the
    > average time. You might admit you are an average lover and driver, that
    > the products you sell are average, and that your in-group is no more
    > morally justified than any other group. You might rarely disagree, and
    > accept that others are right as often as you. You might admit that you
    > care almost nothing about poor people in Africa.

    Some of this seems to be demonstrating a distinction between seeking
    the truth and speaking the truth. You may know these things without
    telling anyone about them.

    The real question is, can you be honest with yourself. That is what
    truth-seeking means to me. You may or may not choose to be completely
    frank with everyone else, but that's a completely different matter.
    The question is whether you should, in your own mind, try to learn and
    know the truth.

    Some of the points you raise do demonstrate costs to this approach.
    You may not be a good liar, and you may not be as socially effective if
    your beliefs do not match your actions. But I suspect that this handicap
    can be overcome, or at least minimized. You say that salesmen who believe
    in their products do best, but a good salesman could learn to act like
    his product is terrific, even though he knows secretly that it is not.
    I've seen effective salesmen of both types.

    And I think most of us have learned to maintain this kind of split
    to some degree, in our relationships. You may well have a different
    opinion about your girlfriend than what you lead her to believe. I'll bet
    most people do, to some extent. Similarly most of us are probably not
    completely frank with the boss, co-workers, other family members, and
    most casual friends. Humans have evolved considerable skill at these
    kinds of deceptions. Lying to yourself is not a necessary prerequisite.

    Hal

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