Let me argue for intentionality in communication. If your intent is to inform and communicate a fact, do so. If your intend is to convince someone to undertake an action, do so. If your intent is to impress people with your knowledge and savvy, do so. If your intent is to elicit ideas and models to see where you differ, do so.
One size does not fit all situations or all people. Talking is an act. Choose the mechanisms that fit your goals, like you do in all actions.
Humans aren’t perfect, and most humans are actually pretty bad at both giving and receiving “honest” communication. Attempting to communicate with them on the level you prefer, rather than the level they’re ready for, is arrogant and unhelpful.
Humans are not naturally nor necessarily aligned with your goals (in fact, nobody is fully aligned, though many of us are compatible if you zoom out far enough). It’s an important social fiction to pretend they are, in order to cooperate with them, but you don’t have to actually believe this falsehood.
The underlying purpose of any sort of “don’t lie” moral code is to limit what you can say when “you intend to convince someone to undertake an action” or “impress people with …”
Let me argue for intentionality in communication. If your intent is to inform and communicate a fact, do so. If your intend is to convince someone to undertake an action, do so. If your intent is to impress people with your knowledge and savvy, do so. If your intent is to elicit ideas and models to see where you differ, do so.
One size does not fit all situations or all people. Talking is an act. Choose the mechanisms that fit your goals, like you do in all actions.
Humans aren’t perfect, and most humans are actually pretty bad at both giving and receiving “honest” communication. Attempting to communicate with them on the level you prefer, rather than the level they’re ready for, is arrogant and unhelpful.
Humans are not naturally nor necessarily aligned with your goals (in fact, nobody is fully aligned, though many of us are compatible if you zoom out far enough). It’s an important social fiction to pretend they are, in order to cooperate with them, but you don’t have to actually believe this falsehood.
The underlying purpose of any sort of “don’t lie” moral code is to limit what you can say when “you intend to convince someone to undertake an action” or “impress people with …”