Anyone Else Sick Of Secrets?

[Jetfire]

Everywhere you turn these days there is a secret, a secret to lose weight, a secret to get rich, a secret to be happy...etc. There are secret societies, people keeping secrets from the ones they love...WHY???

Then there is "The Secret" WHAT?

Some keep secrets to protect the ones they love, some say have the secret to something to make money and rip people off. I am just sick of all of it.

 

[iguana_tonante]

Nope, I like secrets.

Now, I don't buy any of this "secret to this", "secret to that". The secret to get rich is marrying into money or wining at the lottery. The secret to lose weight is eating less and going to a fucking gym. The secret to be happy... I'm working on it.

However, I think that secrets make our life better. All the little secrets we keep from others, the white (or not-so-white) lies we tell them, that's awesome. Secrets, lies and table manners are the only things that keep society from dissolving into chaos and anarchy.

Everybody speaks ill of secrets, how we will be better off without them. But it's not true: people are assholes, cheaters, thieves and monsters, and we will be at each other's throat if we would not keep that locked into our secrets. They are our shameful little friends, taking care of us when we can't do it.

Secrets may be evil, but they are a necessary, comforting, elegant evil.

 

[Broccoli]

Ford: SECRETS!

"One day, I called George Lucas's house at 3 in the morning claiming to be Mark Hamill..."

 

[think]

the secret is to secrete less and create more right?

 

[RandyS]

How I feel about secrets is a secret.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I can never get tired of other people's secrets.

 

[Canadave]

This post is secret.

 

[MANT!]

I know the secret to eliminate secrets..but I'll only tell you for 5 easy payments of $19.99...

 

[Jetfire]

This post is secret.

If only that were true...

 

[Cicero]

However, I think that secrets make our life better. All the little secrets we keep from others, the white (or not-so-white) lies we tell them, that's awesome. Secrets, lies and table manners are the only things that keep society from dissolving into chaos and anarchy.

Everybody speaks ill of secrets, how we will be better off without them. But it's not true: people are assholes, cheaters, thieves and monsters, and we will be at each other's throat if we would not keep that locked into our secrets. They are our shameful little friends, taking care of us when we can't do it.

Secrets may be evil, but they are a necessary, comforting, elegant evil.

I disagree. All evil is inelegant; lies are vulgar and graceless. As you say, they insulate dark, egoistic traits that would otherwise be known.

A secret, though - unlike a lie - can be innocent. Privacy, essential to sanity, requires secrecy. Honest secrets are guileless - openly unopen. They involve no deception.

Underhanded secrets are simply lies.

 

[Australis]

Well, simply, would you like all your little secrets out in the open? No? OK.

This applies to everyone, from tramps to Emperors. Some are state secrets, some are family secrets, some are the secrets of making or even creation. They will always be there.

I see where you're coming from... but it's also true that some things should remain unknown.

 

[Pingfah]

Everywhere you turn these days there is a secret, a secret to lose weight, a secret to get rich, a secret to be happy...etc. There are secret societies, people keeping secrets from the ones they love...WHY???

Then there is "The Secret" WHAT?

Some keep secrets to protect the ones they love, some say have the secret to something to make money and rip people off. I am just sick of all of it.

Tell us all your secrets then.

 

[Holdfast]

Everywhere you turn these days there is a secret, a secret to lose weight, a secret to get rich, a secret to be happy...etc. There are secret societies, people keeping secrets from the ones they love...WHY???

Then there is "The Secret" WHAT?

Some keep secrets to protect the ones they love, some say have the secret to something to make money and rip people off. I am just sick of all of it.

I'd tell you how to get rid of this problem, but it's a secret.

3 easy monthly instalments of $99.99 and I'll tell you all.

 

[Kestra]

I've got a secret
I've been hiding
Under my skin

My heart is human
My blood is boiling
My brain IBM

 

[iguana_tonante]

I disagree. All evil is inelegant; lies are vulgar and graceless. As you say, they insulate dark, egoistic traits that would otherwise be known.

A secret, though - unlike a lie - can be innocent. Privacy, essential to sanity, requires secrecy. Honest secrets are guileless - openly unopen. They involve no deception.

Underhanded secrets are simply lies.

I think you are being naive and simplistic. How can all evil be inelegant? Some definitively is, but evil is an ethical judgment, while elegance is an aesthetical one. I don't see why the two must be correlated.

Lies are vulgar and graceless only when they are discovered, and not even then it's a definitive answer. And there are instances when lying is the only proper thing to do, to protect yourself, or the ones you love. Brutal honesty and complete truthfulness in all occasions is simply incompatible with civil living. I know there is also a cultural difference at work here: some peoples don't share the same taboo about lying that the US have.

Moreover, the line between secrets, lies and deceptions is fuzzy and it ultimately depends on people's perception: what you call an innocent secret, it may be a shameful deception to someone else. How do you differentiate between them?

As House is fond of saying, everybody lies. It's just a matter of about what.

 

[Joshua Howard]

Secrets are an important part of what makes persons and entities respected by others; what we don't know (and assume) is often equally if not more powerful than what we understand.

Close the door to one room in your home. Replace the regular door knob with a digital keypad entry one. Don't talk about what inside to anyone. Don't ever open the door again. If anyone asks about it, change the subject or refuse to divulge information. After 5 or 10 years, you will have garnered a certain respect from those who frequently visit your residence. Because of your secrecy, by that time they will have imagined great wealth and power into that room which, unknown to them, is actually empty. Ultimately, an empty room kept secret is more important than a public room filled with precious items.

People base their judgements - always - on what they can see. A pressed shirt and tie worn daily creates the illusion of continual professionalism. The fact that the wearer of them sleeps in raggy pajamas will never occur to anyone else, because he doesn't appear publically in them.

In actuality, secrets of all forms are our friends; they make us unique, and they are the reward of anyone prudent enough to speak guardedly; and, in a certain sense, they are also the inspiration of everyone everywhere; becuase it is what we do not know which makes us reach out toward greater accomplishments. Half of life's fun is keeping them; the other half is discovering them.

 

[Cicero]

I disagree. All evil is inelegant; lies are vulgar and graceless. As you say, they insulate dark, egoistic traits that would otherwise be known.

A secret, though - unlike a lie - can be innocent. Privacy, essential to sanity, requires secrecy. Honest secrets are guileless - openly unopen. They involve no deception.

Underhanded secrets are simply lies.

I think you are being naive and simplistic. How can all evil be inelegant? Some definitively is, but evil is an ethical judgment, while elegance is an aesthetical one. I don't see why the two must be correlated.

Nothing can be beautiful that is not good. What we regard as beauty is the absence or minimisation of defects. Thus every defect reduces beauty - reduces aesthiticness, elegance.

Lies are vulgar and graceless only when they are discovered, and not even then it's a definitive answer. And there are instances when lying is the only proper thing to do, to protect yourself, or the ones you love. Brutal honesty and complete truthfulness in all occasions is simply incompatible with civil living. I know there is also a cultural difference at work here: some peoples don't share the same taboo about lying that the US have.

Discovery does not render the act reproachable, commission does. I don't believe that brutal honesty is in any way necessary. If you, speaking the truth, perceive it as brutal, you have probably misapprehended just what the truth is.

The only brutal truths I know are that we all will die and that there is evil in the world, both of which are widely spoken.

Moreover, the line between secrets, lies and deceptions is fuzzy and it ultimately depends on people's perception: what you call an innocent secret, it may be a shameful deception to someone else. How do you differentiate between them?

You differentiate by telling the truth about what you won't say. There is no need to lie to withhold that which you don't wish to reveal; you can openly state that you won't reveal it.

As House is fond of saying, everybody lies. It's just a matter of about what.

House is a misanthrope, a cynic, and artifice. Moreover, he is certainly wrong. Mohandas Gandhi, for example, dedicated his life to truth, however costly.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Ancient Chinese secret - Do not complain

 

[Jetfire]

There are unknown details about something, then whatever...it is secrets being flaunted that bother me & secrets that do more harm than good that bother me. I hope you can understand that.

My secrets??? I don't hide anything of consequence that would hurt someone and i don't hold information that could help anyone...that is the difference. I hope I made myself a little more clear...hopefully.

 

[Jetfire]

Ancient Chinese secret - Do not complain

That should be at the top of every forum then.