TL;DR
Whom am I speaking to? Who is this going to help?
My Practical Experience
My Dating Experience
I recently went of a date where I went the full 100-yards in presentation.
I rented a more modern car, I wore a suit with matching dress shoes and watch, and overall elegantly put together.
I felt uncomfortable at first because it’s not how I usually am, but the more I play this “role”, the more comfortable I feel in this new skin.
My date was obviously impressed, and she commented on how well I looked. Naturally, I could tell she immediately started projecting certain virtues onto me, and that make her ability to be open and relaxed much easier.
I can imagine, if I showed up the the date
Aesthetics versus Deception: To what extent am I responsible for someone else’s misinterpretation of myself?
Of course, honesty is communicating truth or providing accurate information.
Certainly communication is not limited to verbal or written language; it includes non-verbal expressions as well.
But that’s the tricky part, because whereas verbal and written communication can be objectively verified for falsehood, such verification methods are more subjective for non-verbal communication.
If I dress as a Walmart employee (say, because I admire the color asthenic), and people misinterpret me as a Walmart employee, is it my fault for because I was “dishonest”, or is it the customer’s fault for making such assumptions? What about Freedom of Expression?
And maybe the solution is to then look at intent–but that’s even tricker because people can have several reasons for why they appear as a certain way.
So, that leads to the central question: what is the difference between aesthetics and Deception, and to what extent am I responsible for someone else’s misinterpretation of myself?
I don’t know how to verify non-verbal communication for truthfulness, but here’s a mental dump of a few ideas I have:
- Consistency: One way to assess intent is to look at a person’s actions and behavior over time. If someone consistently acts in a certain way that aligns with their stated intentions and does not engage in deceptive or harmful behavior, it may be more reasonable to assume their intent is genuine
- Benefit of the Doubt (Hanlon’s Razor): In cases where intent cannot be definitively determined, it’s often fair to give the benefit of the doubt, assuming good intentions until evidence suggests otherwise.
Something to remember is that verifying non-verbal communication takes more time and some open-minded thinking to pull all the pieces together.
Reputation and Karma
I wish to emphasize that non-verbal communication should not be misused. Ultimately, your fate is determined by your habits, and if you cheat people by deceiving them, you will only end by deceiving yourself.
Reputation is one of those compounding things that takes years to build and seconds to ruin.