Intellectual dishonesty

This is a more provocative thought than the one posted previously. Please do read it with an open mind (and heart).

Intellectual dishonesty is the advocacy of a position known to be false. An argument which is misused to advance an agenda or to reinforce one's deeply held beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

In all our daily lives, there are a lot of times that we knowingly or unknowingly go through this phenomenon of ‘Intellectual Dishonesty’. Whilst sub consciously we know what we are saying / doing is incorrect, we still go ahead and do it as it will benefit us in some way or the other. Just for a few examples:

·         “I am in Sync” : Believing X but saying I Believe Y : You have concerns with a subordinate’s work. You have given him hard time in a few instances. When you sit for his appraisal, you give him ratings that look decent as you don’t want to confront him. But to HR, you recommend poor increment and no promotion. When appraisal results come and he asks you, you blame it on HR & company policies. In the short run, everything is fine. But the poor guy never even comes to know that he is bad at his work and he continues to be bad, or probably worse, because now, he is even critical of company policies. What you thought was a win-win, is a lose-lose!

·         “I have completed” : You complete your work, knowing fully well that it is for the sake of doing so : You have to complete your work by day after tomorrow. You are not sure whether what you have done is correct or not. Late night, you send a mail to your colleagues to check whether the file is correct or not. You know that there’ll be no response on it. Day after, you freeze the file and circulate it to a wider group. Next time during the discussion, you say that you had asked for verification and no one bothered to reply. You won the argument, you lost the trust!

·         “I am helpless” : Without putting efforts, you externalise the problem: The sales are not moving up and the pressure from your boss is rising every day. You know everything is going as per daily routine and set processes. When asked, why is the sales not happening, you blame it on “Inflation”, which is the flavor of the season. Boss hesitantly agrees. The next time, when inflation drama is over, you look for another situation to blame the low sales upon. The sales never grow as no new efforts are ever taken by you!

·         “I am right” : Not agreeing to the other person, even when you know he’s correct : You are in the middle of an argument. The opponent shares some statistics, which are right, but now, it's against your ego to agree with him. You keep on going around the conversation trying to drive your point and finally end up in an ugly disagreement. You go ahead and implement what he was saying, as you know it was correct!

·         “I ignore” : Not acknowledging the question itself, if you don’t want to answer : When asked in a meeting by Boss, "Are the new merchandize displays up?", you, even after knowing that the displays are not up, do not answer. A "no answer", in most cases, indicates positive reply. By not answering you have avoided getting battered, but hidden the truth.

These are some of the instances, where we tend to be dishonest with ourselves. Just to avoid momentary discomfiture, we go ahead and falter with the end results. Sometimes, it's just to satisfy our ego or plain laziness!

Whilst there might not be a direct next step for this thought, my only intent is for you to acknowledge the same within yourself, and ask the right question to “yourself”. Whether you agree or disagree with the thoughts, it would be a pleasure to know your view.

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