a psychological idea, i guess

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Found an interesting snippet here written by some college student. I found it a little annoying to read, but interesting nonetheless:

Meaning in Life: How to Act

What does it mean to be true to oneself? Does it mean we all have to be really introspective? And is that really necessary for living a better life?

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@loudthoughts,

What is annoying about: " I mean that one should be genuine about thinking the truth, knowing the truth, feeling the truth, and acting the truth."?

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@jgweed,

jgweed;98257 wrote:

What is annoying about: " I mean that one should be genuine about thinking the truth, knowing the truth, feeling the truth, and acting the truth."?

I wonder what "genuine" means here. Or, indeed, what it means to "think the truth", or "feel the truth", or, even, "act the truth". It seems to me a little vague, although to be sure, inspirational.

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@kennethamy,

kennethamy;98296 wrote:

I wonder what "genuine" means here. Or, indeed, what it means to "think the truth", or "feel the truth", or, even, "act the truth". It seems to me a little vague, although to be sure, inspirational.

It all depends on what the "truth" is doesn't it?

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@jgweed,

jgweed;98257 wrote:

What is annoying about: " I mean that one should be genuine about thinking the truth, knowing the truth, feeling the truth, and acting the truth."?

While I don't find it annoying, it may be frustrating in a sense. How does one be true or not true to oneself? One is what one IS, whatever one is doing.

It is possible that what it is saying is to trust your feelings and do what one feels as opposed to what one thinks one should do. But, then again, whatever one chooses to do is who one is - so?

I don't spend much time being true to myself - but I do spend a good amount of time exploring with feelings as well as exploring with thinking.

Rich

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@loudthoughts,

I didnt really get what he is talking about, though it seens he is suggesting we should avoid not doing what we think we should do, because doing it is both much better and provides growth.

Wouldnt really make sense, though, since the only things that can stop us from doing this are things we are already always fighting against, such as fear and lazyness.

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@Zacrates,

Zacrates;98299 wrote:

It all depends on what the "truth" is doesn't it?

No. Because I don't know what it means to think the truth, or to feel the truth, or even act the truth. Do you? I pretty well know what truth is, though. As Aristotle said, "To say what is true is to say of what is, that it is; and to say of what is not, that it is not". But what it is to "think the truth", or "act the truth", is something I am not clear about. And the word, "genuine" just adds to the confusion.

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@loudthoughts,

I think he means by feeling the "truth" the difference between what he see if he looks at the other people. Sometimes happens that someone see blindness in others by many different ways and just doesnt know how to explain that phenomenon, so thinks that "feels" like that.
But in fact it is just a capability to notice various issues in real time, which others cannot, therefore "feel the truth". However this ability can easily turn into nonsense if will subject start to focus on useless things or will just satisfy himself by endless proving that he can notice more than the others.

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@pantheras,

I find it slightly perplexing that while his thesis statement speaks to the importance of acting the truth, very soon afterward he says, "I did not make the effort to put truth into practice, into its place in my actions..." :perplexed:

Fortunately it's short, so not much mental distress was to be suffered.

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@loudthoughts,

loudthoughts;98246 wrote:

Found an interesting snippet here written by some college student. I found it a little annoying to read, but interesting nonetheless:

Meaning in Life: How to Act

What does it mean to be true to oneself? Does it mean we all have to be really introspective? And is that really necessary for living a better life?

Being true to oneself can very often mean being selfish. This phrase has often been used by people when they are doing what they want as opposed to what is expected of them. This is not always a bad thing but we have to be careful not to be "true to oneself" when it means disregarding the feelings of others. Walking away from a relationship when the going gets a bit tough instead of working at it has often been said to be being true to oneself. It could also be described as being weak, could it not? The "true" in this statement doesn't really have anything to do with "truth" as we normally understand it. Is it not possible that being "true" in this case can also (and very often does) mean being self-serving?

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a psychological idea, i guess

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