Honesty Week: Experimental Truth

As a people, Canadians generally perceive themselves to be open, honest and tolerant.  I think this is a load of litter-box gravel.  Canadians are people.  And people, not to put too fine a point on it, are people.  


This week I conducted an experiment.  I hypothesized that people (defined for the purposes of this experiment as 'random strangers I encounter in malls and at the grocery store') are fundamentally unprepared to hear the truth, even when they ask for it, and are even less prepared to offer it in return.  


To test this I decided to answer any direct question put to me with blunt honesty and gage the results.  After each interaction I asked the folks if they felt honesty was better than the cultural expectation of bald-faced lying and then gaged those results.


I am here to tell you that people don't like hearing the truth so much, but they will certainly deliver it back to you with both barrels when you put them on the spot.


Out of the 45 truthful interactions with random strangers I experienced this week only 1  resulted in a meaningful conversation stemming from my refreshingly honest response to the question "Do you prefer paper or plastic?" (Neither, I prefer wicker.) 

• 12 people told me I was weird.  I thanked them for this honest appraisal and we parted amicably. All 12 of these people were under the age of 20.
• 13 people looked shifty or uncomfortable when I honestly responded to their inquiries about my general health and well-being.
• One gentleman offered me his card (Dr. Blank Blankenstien, Psychologist).
• And 21 people brushed me off or cut the interaction short which I classified as honest but mean.

All in all, this was more entertaining than informative and has no scientific merit whatsoever but I'll be honest with you, I was just bored.