To act, or not to act?

In recent past, I wrote on Truth (Truth? and Extension). Interestingly, I bring the question whether truth matters up again. You'd agree that in different spheres of life, we expect truth in varying degrees. To validate (the least we'd expect) or to bring out the truth (a desirable end) in an engagement with other person or a group is a worthwhile objective for any validation/recognition framework that one can devise.

But communication happens verbally or non-verbally and we are tasked to get the whole picture. So, in another way, cues reveal it all; only that we need to incorporate other modalities. To come to the reality of any social exchange, we need to take ownership.

As to why someone would cast a pretense, it's all about appearing in the best light. Except for family and close friends, we get to see scenes of others acting to hide vulnerabilities, insecurities, false sense of superiority, or any other attribute that is unfavorable to their professional or business goal.

Sifting truth in daily interactions can be highly challenging as we can ascribe what others feel, express, say or act to our assumptions. We are prone to confirmation bias as a result of which we may settle on the first estimate of the given situation. Our emotions can color our perception as well.

On a very basic level, we need to learn how to empathize with others and how to make them comfortable enough to reveal the kernel of truth. Empathy with others require curiosity and it certainly needs to be in equilibrium with skepticism that goes with validation and recognition. So, in a way Empathy makes our lives easier and is a win-win for any two parties in social exchange.

For introverts, like myself, who put authenticity on high pedestal, it may imply ruffling some feathers when we prefer to let our silence do the conversation. Empathizing with fellow introverts, we can speedily embark on getting to know others on a deeper level without getting annoyed at any part of the communication. After all, any person in our daily interaction is a sentient being and there's his/her piece of truth in overall big picture of what concerns any person as a whole.

I am reading "The Laws of Human Nature" by Robert Greene. I wrote this after being duly inspired from his writings.