Do we really value the things we claim to? and do we tolerate too much nonsense?

If you asked anyone, they will probably tell you they value honesty and forthrightness for example. Do they really value honesty though? Men lie to women all the time. When a woman spends a figure comparable to the GDP of a small African country getting her hair done and her partner can’t tell the difference from the way it was before; he will generally tell that her hair looks great and that she looks beautiful. He will say this even if her hair looks decidedly not great and she unbeautiful. Most people will agree that there is no major harm in this kind of lie. I would agree. If he tells the truth in this instance lots of bad things will happen. She will probably go out the next day and spend a figure comparable to the GDP of a large African country getting her hair done again, her feelings will have been hurt and he isn’t going to be getting laid any time soon. On the other hand, the lie will have her feeling good about herself. Where is the harm? I really don’t think there is any.

Lets look at another situation though. Suppose our hapless friend is asked what he finds attractive in a woman. He responds truthfully and forthrightly by saying that he likes slim woman and that he finds excess weight to be extremely off putting. Is there a problem with this honest response? He is only taking about his personal preferences. In many situations it will be fine. It may not go down quite so well at a obesity conference. It is worth noting here that he would not have to lie to preserve tact, just omit some information. Consider instead if he said, “I like white women”. How many people would consider this a racist statement or an implicit suggestion that non-white women are not attractive? It is neither of course. It is a statement of personal preference. In no way different to saying, “I prefer blondes”. Is that a brunette-ist statement?
Regardless of how innocuous his intent with his honesty, we are well trained to omit or even lie about much of what we think in order to safeguard the sensibilities of others or possibly to avoid their anger.

There are things we all lie about instinctively. The facts is that not all babies are beautiful, neither are all women, the interior decoration of many a friends house might be even verging on the hideous. Big is not generally regarded as beautiful. It is not just what is on the inside that counts. We all judge books by their covers. Harry potter books are children’s books regardless of how many of your adult friends have read them. The car he has loving restored will likely always look old and tatty to her and will convince her that he really is just a large child. Men generally prefer to be taller than their partner. Women generally prefer to be shorter than theirs. Women are generally not very good at hand to hand combat, no matter how many American tv shows like to pretend there are. Men are not all sex-obsessed narcissists…well ok most of us are. Men do like to be in control. Women in general prefer a supporting role in most situations no matter how politically incorrect it may be to say so. We all think that killing a man is less bad than killing a woman. Yes, we really do and yes you do too. The glass ceiling does not exist. Shush, don’t say that in front of women. It may be true but that won’t save you. Men are not better at business than women. Both are equally bad at it. Women are not more virtuous than men but also they are not less so. I always find it funny how women can be portrayed as both the paragons of virtue and purity and at the same time, indulgent, materialistic temptresses. Women are more prone to illogical belief. Men are more prone to pretending they know things that they don’t. Men are afraid to appear weak. Women prefer it that way. Men are far more concerned with their partners appearance than women are. This does not make men shallower than women. It makes them different. Men are more prone to infidelity; it is their natural instinct. This is not so for women. This is not an excuse for men to cheat. Women are more social by nature. Men are more competitive and aggressive. Men are more violent. Men take more risks. Everyone, yes, you too! is capable of doing terrible things given the right circumstances/treatment. Some are more amenable than others though.

Here is some popular bullshit which most of us do not loudly decry (as we should): America is not the land of the free, it may have been, but is not anymore. Justice and fairness are not overly important concepts in American society. Most religious people to not have the courage of their convictions and most do not live by the tenets of their faith. Islam is not a religion of peace. Anyone who thinks it is does not know the first thing about it. Fine art is predominately utter crap. Liking it does not make you intellectual or cultured, it makes you gullible, tasteless and largely incapable of independent thought. Faith is not a virtue. It is synonym for gullibility. Positive thinking is a constructive thought process. “The secret” is some utter bollox which makes no sense. People who believe it should be institutionalised for their and others safety. There is no “law of attraction” unless we are taking about opposing magnetic poles. Stars and planets have no impact on your personality or on your life. You cannot be “in touch” with nature. You can like it, sure but you are no more “in touch” with it than the least environmental friendly oil barren who likes to burn oil just to see the smoke. Nature is not a force or an entity. It is the name we give to all the naturally occurring things that are not us. Homeopathy does not work; it cannot work. It is retarded. Depleting global oil reserves are a big problem. They do not signify the end of the world though. Recycling is a huge pile of rubbish at least at the current level of technology. With the exception of a few products, it generally cost more to recycle than to just dump something and make a new one. Recycling does hold come promise in the future but right now it is nothing more than a political gimmick and a handy way for people think they are helping when they are really not. Reducing your carbon footprint is very unlikely to have a significant effect on the global climate or ecology. A forecast on Chinas CO2 emissions expected an increase of about 2.5% to 5% each year from 2004 to 2010. As it turns out the rise has been around 11% per year. If you think that your driving a hybrid car is helping to save the environment, well it isn’t really. Don’t drive a car, don’t eat food you didn’t grow yourself, don’t use gas, oil, coal, peat or electricity in your home and don’t buy anything that is or contains plastic and I will be VERY impressed.
Ahhh, that’s better. Nothing like a good rant to clear the head!!