Sincerity Or “sincericide “?
Should I Always Tell the Truth? Do we really value people’s sincerity? When do we speak with sincerity and when do we do so with ‘sincericide’? By ‘sincericide’ we mean telling the truth without any caution, without limits, without considering what the other feels or wants. In short, in other words, sincerity applied without intelligence can cause unnecessary damage.
The ideal would be to use truth to help and sincerity to build, but never to overthrow or destroy others. We must consider that the truth is a very powerful weapon, which must not lack empathy and social intelligence.
On the other hand, when we commit sincericide perhaps we do not lie, but we transmit the truth, but when we do it without considering others, or only to vent, we do not do good even if we have told the truth as it would be desirable. We simply express objective realities that hurt at inopportune moments.
So, in order not to hurt, do you have to lie? The explanation is not as simple as telling the truth or lying; sometimes, a truth is useless or, even, it can make the situation worse. The best thing is to communicate what we want to say with sensitivity, finding the right moment and context or looking for the best way to do it.
What happens to our brain when it lies?
A study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience showed that when we lie, the amygdala, the brain area that is activated when we perform this action, gets used to it. That is, it is losing sensitivity to the repetition of this action.
In conclusion, by lying we make our brain relax and get used to not telling the truth. However, our job is not to lie, but to learn to select and convey the truth. Our social relationships will not resist much if we do not put some filters on what we communicate, regardless of whether the message transmitted is based on reality or not.
As we have seen, sincericide does not give us better skills, does not improve our self-esteem or help us improve our social relationships. To help us, however, is sensitivity: certain truths must be transmitted with the delicacy of a feather, others must be kept until the time comes, still others must never be shared as they are not fundamental, and with others a gradual communication must be used, so that the person has time to assimilate them.
Is always telling the truth sincerity or is it sincericide?
A cognitive study of lying confirms that during the day we tell at least one or two lies, large or small, but which we use to turn reality in our favor.
It is said that only drunks, children and crazy people always tell the truth. This happens when our brain systems of censorship and inhibition relax, such as when we are drunk or children. In children they do not function the same as in adults, they are in training, but our brain capacity and society train us to hide the truth or make up it in order to control its impact.
Those who have good social skills know how to be honest, but without hurting. It is not a question of lying, but of conveying information in an appropriate manner. It is not about being the most sincere, but the one who best communicates the truth. The best thing is to stay true to ourselves without forgetting the pain we could cause to others. The truth, conveyed with intelligence and supported by a good intention, will always be productive.
