As I ponder the differences between my attitude and my Mom’s attitude (see yesterday’s post) towards lying, I came across an interesting post on twitter/X. See below, Rothmus, on Haidt: “Moral judgments come from instinct, and are then rationalized.”

BTW: Please read beyond its stated “political” context, as I think distinctive moral compasses emerge from some kind of deeply personal/sociological context that lies way underneath such surface phenomena. 

And wow, just noticed: truth-telling is not one of Haidt’s “moral foundations.” Huh? Or maybe once we get into epistemology, we’re at a different level than authenticity, so that authenticity is the foundation of truth-telling. . . Oh wow, wait a minute. Now I notice that not even authenticity is a foundation, in Haidt’s analysis. So maybe sanctity will fit the bill?

Okay, let’s look at the Ten Commandments, many of which make at least an indirect reference to being and behaving in a real, rather than fake manner, i.e. authentic.

In any case, here’s the post I promised above.

https://x.com/Rothmus/status/2086642819716755890?s=61&t=aUBDiSUrvn0aSlRBtZx0wQ

Re: moral “relativity:”

Thinking again about my mom: her mom would not let her meet her own grandparents, even though they lived in the same town: Rochester, Minnesota. Why? Because meeting them would somehow expose the fact that she was Jewish!

I remember, as a kid, when the Rosenberg treason trial was being held, asking Mom if her name was Jewish? No! She instantly replied. “That’s Rosenberg, not Rosenberger.”

The strangeness of her obviously uneasy denial stuck with me, and makes her irate denial that she did NOT dent her son-in-law’s car, despite a witness, understandable.

 

Jordan Peterson had more to say on the subject of lying.

https://x.com/newstart_2024/status/2085488175934243059?s=61&t=aUBDiSUrvn0aSlRBtZx0wQ

 

 

And so here we are today, when not even biological essentialism is acknowledged by a portion of the populace as real. Anybody can “change genders” at any time, and demand others use (their) “correct” pronouns. Maybe we can lessen the severity of what to me would be the “sin” and call this attitude pretending, rather than lying?