In the equine world, horses don't wonder if another horse is telling the truth -- things are pretty black and white with horses. There is "the Truth". No shades of truth or differing perspectives -- what is, well...is. You definitely know where you stand with a horse.
In the human world, things get much more complicated. As humans, we each bring a unique perspective based upon our life experiences, emotions, and biases. Talk to ten people who are at an event and ask them what happened, you may get ten different answers. Each person may be stating "the truth", but that truth is grounded in their perspective. The reality of an event, or "the truth" when taking into account all the different perspectives, is somewhere in the middle -- after you strip away all the human brain-induced biases. As Sgt. Friday said, "Just the facts, Ma'am".
In the human realm, there are truths and there are un-truths -- whether that be the "fib", the "half-truth", the "little white lie", the "whopper lie", or the un-truth by virtue of omission. We've all been guilty of delivering "un-truths"; whether it be to save face, to save another from hurt feelings, or to not face consequences associated with the truth. The problem with "un-truths" is that the larger they are, the more apt they are to wreak havoc, not only for us but for those who are the recipients of these un-truths.
And what is our reaction when we are caught in an un-truth? Looking at the media today, it seems that the most common reaction is denial, followed by anger, and then finally -- maybe -- remorse with an apology. We tend to get defensive that we've been found out, maybe blame others, when the most direct and effective method is a true, heartfelt apology followed by a genuine effort to repair the damage caused by the un-truth.
Easy? Definitely not! There is no other method, though, that gives us a chance to make things right -- or at least to make it better.
No comments:
Post a Comment