Being “good” or “kind” to someone is not attained by just going along with whatever weird or crazy thing they say even if I know it’s wrong, or when I think that they are making a mistake, in some misguided attempt to protect their feelings.

To the contrary, that is being selfish because it suggests I would rather play along with something that I know is false, and may cost them at some point, just so *I* can avoid the stress of having to tell them the truth.

Doing the right, or “good” thing, would be in finding a way to communicate that truth, even at the cost of our comfort.

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Shorter version: If you care about someone, you tell them the truth. If you don’t care about them, or if you want something from them, you tell them what they want to hear.

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Agree, but approach matters, if you want to maintain the relationship.

By the way, did you know the most effective method of persuasion for most people is an appeal to emotions (pathos)?

Mostly. Not always. Sometimes it's better to let your misguided friend believe that his "man bag" is not a purse, that his painfully mediocre child is "gifted," that his forth attempt at writing a novel "really shows promise," and that yes, that beautiful twenty-five year old waitress at Cheesecake Factory may indeed be flirting with him despite the obvious age difference.

It's often better to let a man believe what he wants to believe and not crush his spirit. Let others do the dirty work with their tough love and brutal honesty. Observe how he reacts to life's harsh truths. Then act accordingly.

I guess there’s a consideration to how consequential the belief is in real life, the degree to which it is merely an opinion, and how important it is to the other person — in which you attempt to find exceptions.

Example, the gifted child thing is both opinion and interestingly the belief has meaningful impact on whether it’s true. If you tell or treat a kid like they are gifted, they will literally do much better than a kid treated like they are slow or incapable. So of course, like anything, there is nuance.

100%

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Proverbs 27:6

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend,

But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”

Agree, but it’s also cost me my marriage, and essentially my family, because I resisted the Covid scam. Was it worth it in the end? I don’t have an answer to that, but at least I have a clear conscience that I tried to do the right thing for them.

Exactly. Confrontation is not always bad. This is the masculine energy the world has been lacking. We need both masculine and feminine. I don't think it's a coincedence men in America have lost 50% of testosterone over the last forty years.

Exactly. Who's more disrespectful - the person who politely informs you that you have broccoli in your teeth, or the person who says nothing and lets you continue on with it there?