Questioning Communication and Truth

“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”

-- Roy T. Bennett

Have you ever experienced cross-cultural communication? How was the experience?

I was overseas a few times during my career in the military, and I retired to Mexico for two years. I never really learned a language, which worked out for me, because I had so much fin with the people in all the countries. They wanted to practise their English more than I knew their language, so we all had a great time with much laughter. I made many friends.

Did Plato coin the phrase “platonic relationship”?

I sincerely doubt it. I think this is a relatively new idea taken from his writings.

“This word platonic refers to the writings of Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher who wrote on the interesting subject of love. Platonic love and platonic friendships are marked by the absence of physical or sexual desire. Plato did acknowledge physical desire, but thought that if two people truly inspired each other, their spiritual or ideal love would bring them closer to God.” — vocabulary.com

Do you believe George Orwell's quote "During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act" applies to our current state of affairs? Why or why not?

Orwell was ahead of his time, and yes, it so applies to current affairs. The only problem with this quote is the lie it perpetrates on the reader.  Orwell never wrote it.  Lies about the election fraud, liberal media not covering the news that they can’t slant, deceiving our people about the serious border crisis, and letting the illegal aliens into our country with COVID just when we’re getting ourselves back online. Yea, telling the truth would certainly, for them, be a revolutionary act. For those of us that have been protecting the truth for many years, it is not a revolution… yet.

“When one with honeyed words but evil mind

Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.”

-- Euripides 

Is an apology really enough if it’s issued decades too late and only because the person saying sorry has been publicly shamed into it?

I don’t apologize unless I’m at fault. To do so is giving someone a false sense of righteousness. If you’ve been shamed into it, your apology isn’t real, and you’re accepting responsibility for something you feel you shouldn’t have to. So don’t. If you’re right, and you absolutely know you’re right, don’t apologize. This is holding to our morally ethical standards we should have set for ourselves. Don’t lie, and don’t let someone else make you lie. 

How do you feel when you read this link:  https://textuploader.com/ts95m. What's your opinion?

Six more months and I will be born. I get the feeling she’s a country girl trying to be more than she is and maybe not getting the support. We were just getting our feet after WW-II and the Korean conflict jumped us in 1950. She wrote this piece several months before the conflict ended. I think she is evidence that post-traumatic stress affected more than the soldiers. I hope she continued to write. She was pretty good. Her writing is full of her emotion.  One can feel her while reading, and this is hard to master.

Do you fear alien contact will be hostile?

No. If they wanted to conquer us they would have done it. The bigger concern is how we, the bulk of society, will act during a “first contact” scenario. Will we show our collective ass or will we put our best foot forward? My fear is showing our collective ass.

“Occasionally, I get a letter from someone who is in “contact” with extraterrestrials. I am invited to “ask them anything.” And so over the years I’ve prepared a little list of questions. The extraterrestrials are very advanced, remember. So I ask things like, “Please provide a short proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem.” Or the Goldbach Conjecture. And then I have to explain what these are, because extraterrestrials will not call it Fermat’s Last Theorem. So I write out the simple equation with the exponents. I never get an answer. On the other hand, if I ask something like “Should we be good?” I almost always get an answer.”

-- Carl Sagan

Are the past, present, and future all connected?

Of course. We learn from our past in order to make better choices in our present so our future will be rosier.

Is it hard to be nice on Quora to you?

No. I’m used to dealing with the League of the Perpetually Offended. These people love to attack, yet all they seem to be capable of is regurgitating propaganda. Thinking for themselves is a talent lost in their indoctrination. I stopped trying to have conversations with this group as they seem only capable of cursing and calling people names. Constructive thought? Not so much. I leave them to those other folks who read my answers. This seems to work well. Strive to be happy always!

Why do some people accuse you of lying when you decorate reality in your speech?

Denial. I run into this with many “pro-choice” folks, for obvious reasons. What is the definition of life? When does life begin in the womb, or out of it, in documented cases? I’ve come to the realization that this group is heavily populated by people in denial and the League of the Perpetually Offended. There is no “reality” more in our face than the murder and the death of innocence, of those babies incapable of speaking up and defending their right to life. This defines us as a society, and the definition sucks. But, then, I’m a “spiritual” Christian fighting against organized religion, so my hands are already too full to argue this at any length.

“Everyone should experience a wrong accusation…if only to learn how not to be quick to accuse another.”

-- Chukuwuneta Oby

When someone starts doing inner work to heal childhood wounds, is it common for a lot of things to start happening to trigger the person the deeper they get into the inner work?

“Be careful what you wish for” might be applicable, here. You might find things you weren’t looking for, like your own culpability. When you truthfully start looking closely you do so with a critical eye and leave denial behind. This means you need to set aside any denial in order to get to the meat of what happened. Did you bring on the situation? Did you “enjoy” what happened? Answers to questions we need to find, yet these very answers might “trigger” feelings we aren’t prepared to acknowledge.

I speak to this because I have done some “inner work” concerning my own life. For instance, I came to a realization that I was a little ass and, like now, my mouth got me in all sorts of problems I could have avoided. My father wasn’t as mean as I was uncooperative. Spanking me truly hurt him more, though my tender butt cheeks would argue the contrary. But, this discipline had a questionable effect on my life, like my divorce, whereas the military discipline helped to straighten out much of it.

What we accept into our young lives can form who we are as we grow up. Are we gay? Are we bullies? Do we assault women? Do we have no respect for life? Questions to these kinds of questions might be found in our childhood and, more importantly, our acceptance or enjoyment we found.

Is reading thousands of university statements of purpose letters really the best way to improve one's writing of his/her statement of purpose letter writing?

Centers of “higher education” are becoming more like centers for societal indoctrination. With this in mind, reading those statements that were well accepted should give you the ammunition the particular “indoctrination center” requires. It is too bad that we can’t simply apply to university and have our grades speak for themselves. How you feel is not as important as how they want you to feel, so if you enjoy free thought and exchange of ideas, you are probably going to live a lie for the duration of your stay. Enjoy!

What if instead of Australian Aborigines, Australia had a native population of Polynesians and a distinctively Polynesian culture? I know there is some evidence of Polynesians discovering Australia too, but I’m asking if only Polynesians were there.

The term “aborigine” is applied to any people that have been in an area since early history. My take on this, and I’m no anthropologist, the Indians of the Americas are aborigines of their areas, yet they probably originated from Europe or Asia. To your question, specifically, I think, if the people remember their “distinctively Polynesian culture,” they would probably still consider themselves Polynesian. However, if they have forgotten their historical roots due to time, they might be considered aboriginal to the region.

“Canada is an Aboriginal country as well as a settler country. We rarely see ourselves that way, but it is past time that we started doing so. The fact that settlers are in a significant majority does not take away from the simple fact that when Europeans made first contact with the northern half of North America, there were millions of people already here. From the Beothuk in Newfoundland – a population completely wiped out by disease and violence – across every corner of Canada to the far west and north, Canada’s first people had built a civilization, a way of life thousands of years old and rich in diversity. They were not “savages” (as they were called, in French and English), nor were they “ignorant wretches”, nor were they less than people. They had developed complex societies with distinct languages, systems of governance; they were real people with a real way of life.”

-- Bob Rae

When has knowing another language revealed that someone was talking about you?

My girlfriend is bi-lingual in Spanish and this happens to her. She laughs at the shock she sees when she answers them or confronts them. She had this happen in Walmart when she asked an employee a question not realizing the employee didn’t speak English. When another employee mention to the first employee that my girlfriend didn’t know this, she jumped in with Spanish to apologize and ask the question again. Both employees had to laugh. But it is a note of caution to people to watch what you say in your native language, because someone may understand you.

Has anyone achieved truly understanding another person?

At any particular moment, probably, but people change from moment to moment, so the minute you think you have them pretty well understood, they can change. That, and we tend to see what we want and ignore what we don’t, so our own emotions and desires can prevent truly understanding another person that well. I think that who we hate one moment, we will continue to dislike even if they change in the next moment. It becomes hard to trust ourselves to make a determination about our true understanding.

When do politics become an integrated part of an adult’s life?

When you develop a sense of moral ethics and wonder why your leaders don’t have one. When politicians talk and all you can smell is rotting fish. When you’re in the only state that pays through the nose for gas. When everyone’s leaving the state you live in. When your taxes go up… because everyone’s leaving the state you live in. When you call 911 and a recording explains what “defunding the police” did to all the other services. When you’re dead because the few police left are 30 minutes out, or the two cops that do respond try a “gentler” approach - Three dead, film at 11. Politics? You temporarily still have the right to vote, exercise the right wisely.

“Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.”

-- Mark Twain

 

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as a chaplain at the regional medical center.