# People’s obsession with truth **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539 "2018-02-09T19:34:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/41 "2018-02-13T17:05:05Z")
I think it’s part of that adage “the truth hurts”, which isn’t always true. But I guess certainty is what sells books while murky and skepticism don’t. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/42 "2018-02-13T17:57:21Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > You’ve shown how little you understand. Right and wrong are things that sound evident but the more you delve into them the less solid they become. That’s the problem of morality. No, that’s the problem with [moral relativism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism). A view you seem to eagerly embrace. > [@Machinaforce](#): > > That’s what I thought. It’s like he’s taking “the truth hurts” to a logical extreme, but doesn’t that color ones view of truth? What if it doesn’t hurt? What if he’s wrong? Progress (if it’s a thing) doesn’t always involve pain. The truth doesn’t hurt all the time, sometimes the lie hurts more. As with most things, it depends on the application of truth. It’s not wrong to tell a white lie in many instances to spare someone pain or to protect them. In other instances, it’s best to provide someone with the unvarnished truth in order to keep them from hurting themselves in the short/long run. It’s important to know which to do and when to do it. > [@Machinaforce](#): > > I think it’s part of that adage “the truth hurts”, which isn’t always true. > > But I guess certainty is what sells books while murky and skepticism don’t. Not necessarily. Some people want the simple easy solutions. Others understand that most things in life are complicated and thus have a complicated answer, or perhaps no answer at all. Some are skeptical about a single answer that applies to everyone, while others are downright nihilistic. Different books for different audiences. Whatever someone is selling, there’s someone else buying. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/43 "2018-02-13T20:40:50Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > You’ve shown how little you understand. At least he’s not opening up multiple pointless threads to demonstrate it to the masses. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/44 "2018-02-15T23:26:55Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > No, that’s the problem with [moral relativism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism). A view you seem to eagerly embrace. > > As with most things, it depends on the application of truth. It’s not wrong to tell a white lie in many instances to spare someone pain or to protect them. In other instances, it’s best to provide someone with the unvarnished truth in order to keep them from hurting themselves in the short/long run. > > It’s important to know which to do and when to do it. > > Not necessarily. Some people want the simple easy solutions. Others understand that most things in life are complicated and thus have a complicated answer, or perhaps no answer at all. Some are skeptical about a single answer that applies to everyone, while others are downright nihilistic. Different books for different audiences. Whatever someone is selling, there’s someone else buying. Sometimes I wonder how true nihilism really is and the emptiness of existence. Considering that much of human life is “constructed” in that meaning and significance are given and inherited. Some forms of nihilism go beyond that claiming to see truth through the unlearning of all false knowledge. Though that sound suspect to me ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2018, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/45 "2018-02-15T23:46:00Z")
I honestly do not care what you believe or what you do. If you take your mental masturbation as an excuse to hurt or even inconvenience another person then we have a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/46 "2018-02-16T04:29:27Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I honestly do not care what you believe or what you do. If you take your mental masturbation as an excuse to hurt or even inconvenience another person then we have a problem. I’m not saying I would, but it asked to justify why I do so would amount to me saying it was something passed down to me. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/47 "2018-02-16T13:41:14Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I’m not saying I would, but it asked to justify why I do so would amount to me saying it was something passed down to me. Okay, this just took a dark and disturbing turn. In light of recent and recurring events, if you’re thinking of hurting someone and using “something passed down to me” as an excuse for doing so, you should tell someone who is in a position to help you deal with that before you actually do something that irrevocably damages innocent people’s lives. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/48 "2018-02-16T13:55:37Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Okay, this just took a dark and disturbing turn. “just” - ? The stakes that **Machinaforce** is playing for in posting these circular and repetitive threads have long been a source of ??? to many folks. He is always walking that line between attempting to look like a legit debate and “WTF is \*really \*going on here?!” **Machinaforce** , to be clear: you’re freakin’ us out a bit. You see this? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/49 "2018-02-16T14:57:00Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I’m not saying I would, but it asked to justify why I do so would amount to me saying it was something passed down to me. Why on earth would something become justified because it was passed down? If you see me doing something stupid, and you ask me why I keep doing it, would you prepare to sneer if I said it was just something I came up with — but then assure me that I’ve made the right choice, if I reply that it was passed down? Can I, as it were, _pass you some advice?_ Will you embrace it, if it’s so _passed?_ ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/50 "2018-02-18T21:20:30Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Okay, this just took a dark and disturbing turn. > > In light of recent and recurring events, if you’re thinking of hurting someone and using “something passed down to me” as an excuse for doing so, you should tell someone who is in a position to help you deal with that before you actually do something that irrevocably damages innocent people’s lives. In the sense that there is no Objective morality, just what we decide is right. But when you boil it down it amounts to little more than “i say so”. The same with social constructs and how some might regard them as “lies”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/51 "2018-02-18T21:35:16Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > In the sense that there is no Objective morality, just what we decide is right. But when you boil it down it amounts to little more than “i say so”. Why would that give extra punch to something if it’s passed down to you? If you start by figuring there’s no objective morality, then why grant any deference to stuff that’s been passed down to you — as opposed to stuff that dawned on you in the moment, or stuff that I’ll mention to you once it occurs to me? Your reason _isn’t,_ I’m guessing, objective morality; so what _is_ it? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539/52 "2018-02-19T00:07:12Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > In the sense that there is no Objective morality, just what we decide is right. But when you boil it down it amounts to little more than “i say so”. > > The same with social constructs and how some might regard them as “lies”. Maybe in the most abstract. If used to justify hurting others in real life, it’s a moral failing and an indefensible evil. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-s-obsession-with-truth/808539.md?page=2)