Trust Me

Commodore James Norrington: "You actually were telling the truth!"

Captain Jack Sparrow: "I do that quite a lot, yet people are always surprised."

- Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest


Truth is an interesting thing. Not only is it interesting in and of itself, but our perception of it is interesting as well. How often do we try to hide the truth, yet it manages to escape and expose itself to the world? And how often do we try to expose it, yet it refuses to be seen? Sometimes this is the fault of the teller, sometimes of the listener, and sometimes it's just the situation, place, or time.

Speaking of situation, one has to wonder if there is a social situation killing Truth, or our sensitivity to it. I submit: is political correctness ruining the ability to tell or perceive the truth? Take for example the cliche "does this dress make me look fat?" scenario. If the answer is yes, Honesty would persuade one to say yes (hopefully as as courteously as possible). But if there is such a need for political correctness, perhaps the responder would reply "No, it accentuates your curves", which implies a positive response to a negative reaction. While this response makes the recipient happier, is it true? No. You can only imagine what can happen with more delicate scenarios.

So where is the line? Too much of a good thing is bad, right? So if Truth is good, and Honesty is good as well, can there be too much of either? Or are they both dying out?