Sincerism

[jadine]

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

Comments

[icedrake]

You know what, I'm revising my position. I stopped reading Templar a few years ago, so I thought that having only read the linked-to strip, I lacked context. I went back about four strips, and I no longer feel I lack context.

It's pretentious, absolutist bullshit.

Sinceritism assumes there's a common, inviolate, unchangeable truth. That may be the case when it comes to mathematical constants (and even that is open for discussion), but it sure as hell not the case in the squishy, malleable reality of human interactions.

They boot a guy out for having a tattoo that says "courage" and hating parrots.

What. The. FUCK? First of all, since when does this tattoo unambiguously equate to "I am courageous"? Who decides this is a more valid meaning than "I strive to be courageous" or "courage is my ideal" or, equally valid, "you should strive to be courageous and I wear this symbol to remind you"?

Let's suppose a person says something they sincerely believe in. Do they get kicked out of the club if they're then shown to have had a shred of doubt about it? Or do they have to simply exceed the 50% threshold to be able to make a sincere claim? Do they have to go back and revise their claim if at some later time the balance shifts?

I started out thinking this was an appealing, but unworkable, idea. I take back the "appealing" part.

[jadine]

Go back to what I said. Unlike the Sincerists, there would be no policing, no fascist enforcement of "truth culture"...

I'm not talking about recreating the crazy, satirical subculture from Templar. Yes, they are pretentious, absolutist, and full of shit. I disagree with some of your other interpretations about them, but that's not relevant, because this is not about them.

[icedrake]

I stand (recline, actually) corrected.