Are you living honestly, with yourself ?

[m1469]

Answer honestly ... (and assuming then, that "yes" means yes)

If "no" were your honest answer, then you have just been honest, therefore making a lie out of the answer "no". The honest answer would have been "yes" if the answer "no" were a lie, therefore you have not lied with the answer no, meaning you gave an honest answer, therefore you were indeed honest with yourself (the cycle continues infinitely).

The only honest answer to this question is "yes", it would seem.

Moral of the story, you cannot truthfully lie to yourself, I suppose .


m1469

[sarahlein]

Answer honestly ... (and assuming then, that "yes" means yes)

If "no" were your honest answer, then you have just been honest, therefore making a lie out of the answer "no". The honest answer would have been "yes" if the answer "no" were a lie, therefore you have not lied with the answer no, meaning you gave an honest answer, therefore you were indeed honest with yourself (the cycle continues infinitely).

The only honest answer to this question is "yes", it would seem.

Moral of the story, you cannot truthfully lie to yourself, I suppose .

You ask if you are living... (continuous action) You are not asking for a momentary action at the time when it's taken (one decides to answer no however that was an honest answer therefore one does live honestly!)

To get your desired moral you have put at the end you have to rephrace you question

[m1469]

LOL... thanks for reading this thread.  Actually, I had no desired end to this at all... I had simply asked myself a similar question in order to "come clean" with myself.  "Are you being honest with yourself ?"

I was seeking an honest answer with regard to my own life in general.  In thinking it through, I thought I realized what I posted above but now, I am stuck somewhere in a parallel dimension with the whole thing.  :-.  It turned into a riddle for me... and I wanted to put it here for people to either agree with or disagree with, and either way, reason through it.

It seems to me though, that even on an ongoing basis, if one knows enough to answer "no, I am not living honestly with myself", they have never actually lied to (or fooled) oneself about it, and therefore have remained honest with oneself at their deepest levels.

Where I am stuck is if somebody answers "YES" but is lying to themself... it means that "yes" is a lie, but that's fitting because they are lying to themself... but that doesn't seem like the end of the reasoning-line concerning that answer, so I am still working on it.

In the interest of the subject, if you know how to rephrase that question to make the answer in my initial post true, please feel free to do so, to help shed light.  At this point, with "yes" meaning "yes", I still think that what I posted above is correct.

m1469 

[Bob]

(confused)

I would say... mostly.  I think my expectations are above what i can actually do or what I usually end up getting done.

[zheer]

(confused)

I would say... mostly.  I think my expectations are above what i can actually do or what I usually end up getting done.

  I can honestly say i have never reached the top, i have always been at the lower end of things . All my life i have asked why do i always find my self at the bottom, if am honest i would say its to do with my personality. For example when am waiting for a bus and there is 30 people waiting to get on, i will stand back let every one push there way in, and if there is space still available i will step on , if not i will wait for the next bus.

[ted]

I do not think this question is amenable to simple processing by symbolic logic, resulting in infinite regresses and so on. Unless it was intended as less than serious, that sort of schoolboy reasoning tells us little. I think it does have a meaning, but one which is of a subjective and convoluted nature. At its deepest level of meaning, the question probably has to do with Jung's idea of individuation, the conscious accord of internal and external reality; to put it in everyday terms, what is known as "coming to terms with oneself."

Some people understand it and some do not. I do not think it is a state which is suddenly acquired and kept until death. It is a continually developing process which demands  both active contemplation and healthy, outgoing contact with reality. Anything less than both will not do. Also, while complete consistency of intention and action would seem desirable, I doubt that the ideal is realisable. Nonetheless, as Huxley says, in forming an ideal, while we may assume what we wish, we should certainly try to avoid impossibilities.

 

[Siberian Husky]

Ted would make a pretty good 21st century Socrates

[ted]

Nowhere near it I'm afraid. I have had too much difficulty sorting myself out over the years to confidently make many weighty general pronouncements. Aldous Huxley had a few good ideas though; or at least he had fewer obvious flaws than most. Russell is always a perennial delight to read too.

[Siberian Husky]

flaws in a person do not make one any less qualified for greatness...everything is relative...

ted is one dope ass mother f*cker <--where im from, this is one of the best compliments you could recieve..of course many who read it will gasp at the choice of words..again..relativity


i do find your posts intellectually stimulating though..and i appreciate that you stay on topic (*cough* pianistimo *cough*..haha..i love picking on her)

[pianistimo]

cough?  i beg your pardon.

i take this question as literally as ted.  i live dishonestly, with my husband.  i do not live honestly, with myself.  honestly, i do not live alone.  if i did, i would be lonely.  this would be very dishonest.  wait a minute.  well, it FEELs like i'm living dishonestly with my hsuband.  but, he's never been married before - so despite our age difference and the looks i used to get from ladies his age - i actually honestly live with him.

now, if i wanted to be dishonest about it - i'd say 'i've never seen you before in my life.'  he'd have to show me pictures of when we were married, and prove that the kids were ours.

[contrapunctus]

I would have to admit I have absolutely no emotional problems whatsoever, and I really don't understand people who do have that kind of problem. It's easy: just supress all emotions and then you won't be bothered by them. That is what I try to do most of the time. It also leads to one having very little worries.

[stevie]

I would have to admit I have absolutely no emotional problems whatsoever, and I really don't understand people who do have that kind of problem. It's easy: just supress all emotions and then you won't be bothered by them. That is what I try to do most of the time. It also leads to one having very little worries.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA TIMEBOMB