Sincerism
I believe in total, absolute openness and honesty in relationships. I wish this could be applied more broadly, but societal conventions label very direct communication as "rude". Instead, we're expected to dance around every interaction, watching for subtle cues that may mean very different things to the different people involved, and guessing at each other's intentions and feelings without ever vocalizing such matters because, oh my, that would be impolite.
There is a subculture called "Sincerists" in the webcomic "Templar AZ", and they are completely honest, absolutely no deception. This comic shows how such Sincere interaction can go, which underlines why common society doesn't work like this.
However, I would like to create a virtual space where this is the normal mode of interaction. I would actually like to have exchanges like that in the comic above, nevermind that it was written as satire. Unlike the Sincerists, there would be no policing, no fascist enforcement of "truth culture" - but participants would endeavour to be open and honest well beyond the limits of normal politeness.
I thought about an IRC channel, but I think these exchanges would be better conducted one-on-one, rather than in a large group setting. There's a big difference between telling someone bluntly how you feel about them, versus announcing it to the whole room.
So maybe we could have a group of people who want to do this, and members would contact each other and talk. I think such exchanges should be opened by expressing one's desire to have a Sincere conversation, so both parties understand they're stepping out of normal social constraints and into this enhanced mode of communication. Maybe we'd have an LJ group, so people could add and remove themselves easily, and check the membership list in real time.
Who's interested in this idea? (And what do you think of co-opting the term "Sincerist"? Other suggestions are very welcome.) Thoughts in general?
There is a subculture called "Sincerists" in the webcomic "Templar AZ", and they are completely honest, absolutely no deception. This comic shows how such Sincere interaction can go, which underlines why common society doesn't work like this.
However, I would like to create a virtual space where this is the normal mode of interaction. I would actually like to have exchanges like that in the comic above, nevermind that it was written as satire. Unlike the Sincerists, there would be no policing, no fascist enforcement of "truth culture" - but participants would endeavour to be open and honest well beyond the limits of normal politeness.
I thought about an IRC channel, but I think these exchanges would be better conducted one-on-one, rather than in a large group setting. There's a big difference between telling someone bluntly how you feel about them, versus announcing it to the whole room.
So maybe we could have a group of people who want to do this, and members would contact each other and talk. I think such exchanges should be opened by expressing one's desire to have a Sincere conversation, so both parties understand they're stepping out of normal social constraints and into this enhanced mode of communication. Maybe we'd have an LJ group, so people could add and remove themselves easily, and check the membership list in real time.
Who's interested in this idea? (And what do you think of co-opting the term "Sincerist"? Other suggestions are very welcome.) Thoughts in general?