Sincerity

[infoterror]

It now marks our letters as a disingenuous parting formality, but the term "sincere" once meant a type of seriousness toward life that enlightened and rewarded all that it touched. To be sincere was to intend to do well by the world as a whole, and therefore, to look at each task for its own sake in the context of all things it touched. Of course, since all systems, eco and otherwise, on earth are interrelative, the only way to understand "sincere" is as a holistic morality which addresses not the individual nor the collective exclusively, but the order to which both belong.

http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/sincerity/

 

[Norsemaiden]

There was once a time when people aspired to be honest, truthful and sincere. This was prior to mass immigration and the consequential divisions in society. Since then, personal gain, spite and survival-motivated lies make it hard to be honest.

Oscar Wilde wrote, in "The Importance of Being Earnest", that in "matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing".

Truth seems rarely to be what people seek. Wilde wrote, in "The Critic as Artist", to "know the truth one must imagine myriads of falsehoods. For what is truth?" Identifying the false is as hard as it is to identify the truth.

The media tells us so many lies, and successfully manipulates so many people, that the message coming through from this is that honesty is not always the best policy.


People tend to look at all the various philosophies, political ideologies and religions and choose which set of lies most appeals to them. Nietzsche said "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of the truth than lies".

Martin Luther said "Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding". Yet Martin Luther advocated faith. He was the father of Protestantism. The faithful can believe very sincerely in some kinds of lies.

It is not easy to tell if someone is being sincere or not. There is so much pretend sincerity, mainly in politicians, who tell you to trust them (something often said when they are tricking you!) and from the opinion-makers of the media, or pushy salespeople that sincerity itself has been devalued and the more sincerity that someone shows, the more you wonder if they are really just acting. But then perhaps most people don't really wonder this, and just fall for the trickery - then again we all tainted to some extent by this avalanche of false sincerity and so we practice it ourselves from time to time. Basically. we are living in an age of insincerity.

 

[infoterror]

Basically, we are living in an age of insincerity.

I think so. It's more important not to offend than it is to answer a question correctly. That's nuttier than a fruitcake by my reckoning.

 

[Norsemaiden]

Yes, and there is this idea that it is very rude to tell someone they are wrong about something. If somone thinks I'm wrong about something - I want them to be honest (and explain why). It reminds me of the old rituals of Japanese etiquet, that everyone has to "save face".

The British have long been known for an insincere habit of saying "sorry" when they don't mean it. This is quite a phenomenon to explain. Sometimes it is cowardice, say if someone bumps into them and they say sorry out of fear of the person who bumped into them - but it could also be that they actually do blame themselves (rarely) - and then again (commonly) it is a sarcastic remark but insincere as they meant "look out you clumsy idiot".
A reason why it is common to British (especially English) culture could be that people tend to be quite volatile under the surface and this code of manners prevents a lot of violence in society. The insincerity helps to bottle that in. Britain is overpopulated to a similar extent as if the entire population of the world was fitted into the US. This is an explanation for the frustration.

 

[infoterror]

A reason why it is common to British (especially English) culture could be that people tend to be quite volatile under the surface and this code of manners prevents a lot of violence in society. The insincerity helps to bottle that in. Britain is overpopulated to a similar extent as if the entire population of the world was fitted into the US. This is an explanation for the frustration.

Definitely an interesting theory. I blame low self-confidence: most people get all screwed up when they find out they are, were, or might be wrong. Confident people shrug it off more easily and are thus less likely to start beat-downs because they forgot some detail -- they recognize it as detail.

 

[Nile577]

The British have long been known for an insincere habit of saying "sorry" when they don't mean it. This is quite a phenomenon to explain. Sometimes it is cowardice, say if someone bumps into them and they say sorry out of fear of the person who bumped into them - but it could also be that they actually do blame themselves (rarely) - and then again (commonly) it is a sarcastic remark but insincere as they meant "look out you clumsy idiot".
A reason why it is common to British (especially English) culture could be that people tend to be quite volatile under the surface and this code of manners prevents a lot of violence in society. The insincerity helps to bottle that in. Britain is overpopulated to a similar extent as if the entire population of the world was fitted into the US. This is an explanation for the frustration.

I think you're perhaps being a little unfair. 'Sorry' implies a measure of cultured civility no? An example:

In a restaurant, if a stereotypical Englishman's dinner is a little cold, he might say "Excuse me, I'm terribly sorry, this steak isn't actually cooked enough, is there a chance you might heat it up a little?'

If a stereotypical American were in similar situation he would yell "GODDAMNIT, THIS GOD DAMN STEAK STILL ISN'T FUCKING COOKED! JESUS HOLY CHRIST! YOU HEAT THIS UP NOW OR I'M GONNA BUST YOUR ASS!" (yes, I am reminded of a certain Fawlty Towers episode).

Perhaps neither is exactly healthy but if you call the former repression, I call it relaxing; or at least, if I were to say such I would not feel repressed. The latter example elevates the mundane to the level of the stressful. This is aside from your point but I find many Americans live life in a needlessly confrontational way - as if the volume is constantly turned up to 10. I find it hard to relax in such an environment.

Both seem to be social mechanisms for articulating the same point. I guess it depends to what level you value politeness in and of itself.

 

[Norsemaiden]

Politeness is a good thing but insincere politeness gets quite annoying. Some people from the upper classes have an insincere etiquet of saying to people "You must come and visit us sometime!" while really not wanting to see that person again in their life!

 

[Akirahito]

It now marks our letters as a disingenuous parting formality, but the term "sincere" once meant a type of seriousness toward life that enlightened and rewarded all that it touched. To be sincere was to intend to do well by the world as a whole, and therefore, to look at each task for its own sake in the context of all things it touched. Of course, since all systems, eco and otherwise, on earth are interrelative, the only way to understand "sincere" is as a holistic morality which addresses not the individual nor the collective exclusively, but the order to which both belong.

http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/sincerity/

That is EXACTLY the kind of altruism that Jesus Christ preached.