Radical Honesty Part I

[WeCaredALot]

"But you hurt her feelings." "So what?" ROFL

[oopalonga]

@WeCaredALot ya that was awesome lol

[toonietoonz]

So what's so good about this crap? I couldn't make it past the audio book (just being honest) he was so annoying coughing and pulling his mouth away from the microphone where he couldnt be heard. I guess he was taking his honesty shtick just a bit too far for my taste, so I deleted the whole audiobook. Freed up valuable space on my computer. Thank god I didn't pay for it. So why is this any good? What is good about it in a nutshell? The author is honest about his dishonesty?

[Daghead]

What if a bunch of NAMBLA members join a group?

[serumclx]

if you really want to hurt some one feeling tell them the true about them.

[MartialArtsMaster]

I can see a potential problem right away:

The problem is we live in a culture where people use "honesty" as an excuse to be rude and scream at people all the time, even when what you're saying ISN'T true!

It can also be a cover for arrogance. I could scream at someone that they're in the poorhouse because of their own fault, but if it's not true in that particular person's case, then it's not true no matter how loudly I scream that it's true. In that case it's not honesty, it's cruelty.

[greenpowernow]

@MartialArtsMaster What you are referring to as honesty is not honesty, and doesn't look anything like how Brad describes honesty. The process of Radical Honesty can be temporarily painful and often times isn't. Listening and being present are a huge part of honesty. I attended an 8 day workshop with 16 people from all different walks of life. Men, women, gay, bi, straight, rich, poor, young, old, fat, thin, etc. We all love each other and have grown tremendously since.

[MCTMD1]

Radical honesty is great, yes, but Brad Blanton is clearly not honest enough, if he believes in God. Reality, as a whole, may not be subject to our current human intelligibility, but there's a God? How do you know? How could that be? Be honest. You should then see that to believe that anything supernatural actually exists is irrational and dishonest.

[africanchina1]

I'm sorry but your argument is silly. He's talking about being true to what you feel and think. If he thinks that God exists and he tells that to you (even though there is not a God), he's being honest. Having the truth is not the same as being honest. Now I'm going to practice radical honesty: I think you posted that to seem intellectual and interesting

[MCTMD1]

No theist is actually being honest. Faith is willful ignorance. He may be true to what he feels, but not what he thinks. He is willfully evading the facts of reality. That is not radical honesty. It is emotional irrationality.

[Dodec84]

Telling your own (mis)interpretations is not a lack of honesty. Is a student that tells a (wrong) answer in class dishonest?

[MCTMD1]

If they know that supernatural things cannot exist and they still believe in Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, then yeah, they are lying. If they don't know, then of course it is not a lie. What I am saying is that a belief in God, for educated people, is so obviously contradictory to reality, that it is a lie. When you let your feelings dictate your convictions, you are fooling yourself.

[Dodec84]

When you are fooling yourself, you are not lying.

It is not a lie when you belief it yourself.

[MCTMD1]

Call it what you like, willful evasion of reality is irrational and destructive in that it fosters a culture that stands for sacrifice instead of esteem.

[Dodec84]

Could be, but you were talking about honesty.

When Hitler says that the jews should be exterminated because, according to him, they are plotting against Germany, he is honest, even when he is extremely wrong.

Like someone else said: don't confuse honesty with being right.

[MCTMD1]

When someone is aware that knowledge is perceptual evidence integrated logically, without contradiction, and still claims to believe in an invisible pink unicorn, they are not being intellectually honest.

[Dodec84]

"intellectually honest"?

wtf does that mean?

you mean "consistent".

[MCTMD1]

Intellectually honest. Integrity. Logically consistent. You know what I mean and it is reasonable. Willful ignorance is not.

[Unerrante84]

The problem is when you are brought up to be dishonest and have been dishonest your whole life you can't always tell when you are lying to yourself. That's the real problem with lying, after a while it stops being lying and just becomes what you honestly believe. To undo this conditioning is a long, often painful process, although worthwhile (in my opinion).

[jarden69]

@MCTMD1

Very well said...and enlightening.

[MCTMD1]

Thank you! I appreciate it.

[Dodec84]

So, when around you, people that believe in God should say that they don't, because then they are "honest"?

[MCTMD1]

People that believe in God are emotionally clueless and intellectually weak and I would not expect them to face reality with courage. If they could, they would not be so called believers.

[imqtkd]

yeah this book rocked my world!

[camptrav]

I guess it better to be an honest asshole, instead of a lying asshole.

[boodleboy]

Ever had violent urges? Or racist? self-hatred? Intolerance towards fat or dumb or poor or ugly people? Ever wanted to beat your wife or your children? Let it out! Be radically honest! The only way to set you free.

[9216544]

Yes I have! That's why I keep it up inside my head until I explode and let out some hate crimes!

[boodleboy]

I'm sure a psychiatrist could help you with that.

[hootiepaladin]

Ha ha...

[hootiepaladin]

I said "ha ha" Boodle Boy...

[boodleboy]

I'm sure a psychiatrist could help you with that.

[TheBadSniper]

Its supposed to be about being radically honest. Not some excuse to live without self control.

[boodleboy]

Yes, and i`m sure it`s absolutely not about making money from people with issues.

[TheBadSniper]

What do psychiatrists do again?(rhetorical) He says in his book that he wants to make money, be seen as a genious, and do something great and he says that as a way of being honest.

Don't give him shit because he's not 100% selfless like everybody else on the planet.

[boodleboy]

Well ok. If it helps people, why not. The whole concept doesn't look very credible to me, but then i didn't read anything from him. So if it makes people happy or something, so be it.

[TheBadSniper]

I have read his book and it helps a bit. It's mostly about speaking your mind rather than repressing your thoughts because of how they aren't very socially acceptable.

Mind you balance is needed, but for the most part people do lie, and this is why I appreciate his book. We need to talk person to person, rather than persona to persona.

[boodleboy]

Yeah i can agree on that, however the disposition to "polite dishonesty" is merely the cause of characteristical imbalances, it's rather a symptom imho. And whenever someone comes out with a "revolutionary but simple idea that can replace all psychotherapy" i think it's pretty healthy to be and stay sceptical, there are thousands and thousands of books on the market that make you feel good for a few moments but in the end of the day they have no lasting effect.

[boodleboy]

...meant to say "imbalances of the character/psyche" instead of "characteristical imbalances", but i guess you understood me. :)

[TheBadSniper]

I agree. There a few quick fixes in life. His book is interesting and helpful, but him saying that it will replace psychotherapy is quite a stretch.

It is a good starting point though, while not nearly as deep as psychotherapy.

[snikkerz]

Brad was a psychotherapist for ~30 years. The Radical Honesty 8 day workshop is intended to take the place of 6-12 months of psychotherapy. The workshops do go deep, and the closest you can get without psychotherapy or such a workshop is probably by following the practices laid out in the books.

[snikkerz]

What makes you think balance is needed?

[namitsu1]

@TheBadSniper Right! And that last fact DOES NOT EVEN HELP US!

[xtcvirus]

@namitsu1 hahah, i was thinking the exact same thing.

[flawedplan]

It's about time! I have felt so alone in fighting for Radical Honesty online for six contentious years, and fighting strawmen Dr. Blanton, due to your lack of visibility. Time to get it out there, use the Internets, it's that kind of election cycle --people are hungry for transparency/truth/hope/transf­ormation and whatnot. Where's your Huffpost columns? Everyone's doing it, seize the day!

[TheHighwaytoHell]

lol the internets. I'll be honest with you, I think you should stop being so obsessed with spreading this message as a cause and live your own god damned life.

[snikkerz]

and you do that for awhile and realize the world doesn't work very well and you want to be a cause in it working. Once you get over the things that don't work in your own life you want the world to have it.

[AnsaralZindiqi]

I can be radically honest in saying I don't need a group to keep me radically honest or otherwise.

[9216544]

cool.