Annoyance

Let me argue with you.
Let me be the voice of those who are just like me. Too intelligent for the world around them. Let me argue so that I can wrap my head around this, as Aristotle taught us that argument brings out the truth and gives us greater understanding.

If I could place the most annoying thing that I do, it's that I argue. No, not fighting, arguing. And no, not arguing even, just stating my opinions. No, not biased opinions, just my point of view: if that is biased, so be it. I can't help that the only thing I know to be true is not the absolute truth. --NO ONE knows the absolute truth. That's why we argue...to come closer to the truth, to come to common consent where we can agree on the truth. This is not sophistry: I do not wish to get you to agree, I wish to change as much as you change.

So again: If there is one annoying thing about me, it is that I state my opinion. I state my beliefs. I state what I know. I tell the Truth. I am very honest. And truth often hurts.

So my voice then is that of the Honest (non-sophist) and Truthful (based on as much root-knowledge as possible). To be comfortable with people who are honest and truthful, you have to be as equally invested in the truth and equally as honest.--We respect one another. We can handle one another. We can deal with one another. We can rightly disagree when necessary. But we CAN'T deal with anyone who isn't honest (or goes around trying to persuade people into false things just to be right) or the untruthful (those who don't have the experience necessary to argue effectively).

Experience is an interesting topic.
I don't necessarily refer to 'life experience', I refer to 'argumentative experience'--experience gained by arguing, changing, correcting one's self, becoming better, picking sides and risking being wrong only to discover that with only a little changing one can be closer to the truth. To lack experience is as much to be untruthful as it is to say something that isn't true.
For to be untruthful is to say something that isn't true. --If you say something that isn't true, but you believe is true, is it true? --NO. No, no it is not true. You need to HAVE the Truth in order to be truthful.

To be honest is to speak what you know to be true, regardless of what your personal biases are. It takes integrity. It takes turning yourself in at times when you are guilty. Honesty means not trying to gain things from the untruth. Honesty means without guile.

Truth and Honesty are similar, but they are not the same.

When you are finally Truthful AND Honest to a high degree, you are forced to have another character trait: you are the opposite of a hypocrite. That means you are upright: you are standing tall, you are vertical. When you are both truthful and honest, you don't let the truth hurt you. You let it cut you. You, bleeding, grow in the correct direction. The only way you grow is up, is straight. You don't veer. When you are not a hypocrite, you side with the truth, even when it harms you. You seek after the truth, even when you fear it. You speak the truth and you do not fear what the consequence is.
To be upright makes you tall and stable enough that others will no doubt recognize you.

Does this fear you? You, who are not truthful, who are not honest. Does this fear you? Does stating the truth scare you? Would you rather be crooked? Would you rather live in a fantasy world where you can get away with being dishonest? Where you can get away with cheating?



Everything is connected. Commandments, rules, organization, regulation, order--they are all connected to truth. And truth is connected to honesty. If you can agree that it is good to be truthful (if for no other reason than to continue learning and fulfill your natural thirst for knowledge) and that it is good to be honest (if for no other reason than to ethically apply the knowledge that you gain), then you must also agree that you have an obligation to argue. You have an obligation to tell people what you know is true. You have an obligation to state your beliefs. You have an obligation to SPEAK UP.

We are a small group. Not everyone is honest and truthful. Why? I do not know. Possibly the fear of upsetting others. Possibly the fear of being annoying. Possibly the lack of motivation to do something hard. But those of us who HAVE become Truthful and Honest, we understand that it is harder to be a fence sitter. It is harder to pick and choose when to be honest. It is harder to live life under false inclinations. It is harder to believe one thing and be faced with conflicts that stem from our beliefs in them. Because when you have the truth, you know that you are standing on solid ground. No one can refute you. Not even God can stray from you when you have the truth. You fear nothing when you have the truth, and you know where you came from, how you got to where you are, and where you can go if you choose.
Being Honest and being Truthful is Easier.





[Let others argue the ethics behind discovering Truth (should we all devote our lives to being truthful?) and being Honest (should we really be honest if being dishonest can help us?); I shall argue that if you choose to say you are Truthful or you say you are Honest, that you should BE them or risk being a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is the opposite of the marriage between Truth and Honesty.]