Dostoevsky - Never Lie to Yourself 

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Lying to yourself makes life easier in the short term but impossible in the long term

_"Trust those who seek the truth but doubt those who say they have found it."_ -André Gide

Socrates said it best: "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky 💪🏻🚀

Too many people treat their opinions and thoughts as the truth

Things have became so clear now. I was disappointed with how I was living my own life for a long time, and I now I see why. This was extraordinarily eye openin. I have a better perspective now. Thank you

I think what Dostoevsky meant was that we know facts, see events, feel emotions, but we deny that they exist or don't matter. We can see details or errors but choose to ignore them thinking some things are ignorable when they may be not. This happens all the time when we take shortcuts or refuse to own up to mistakes. I don't think it is about mistaking knowledge for truth. I think it is about pretending to be ignorant of the truth to not be seen as culpable. Once a person knows something and it's associated consequences, one is immediately responsible for the consequences, particularly if there is no one else looking. By pretending, for example, you are not aware of your own emotions and faults, you can claim ignorance, be absolved, and even blame others for your own emotions and faults. That's an observable and common human behavior, just like people trying to pretend they know or don't know or people claiming the truth. While I can agree that knowledge is a human perception and truth exists irrespective to human perception or understanding, I don't think that is the takeaway from Dostoevsky. Because to even be cognizant that we lie requires us to know the truth, otherwise we could not even perceive of the self-deception. And, non-cognizance is not the same as self-deception. Self-deception requires knowing the truth. How can one otherwise know one is deceiving one's self on purpose or accidentally?

Lie to oneself is a daily practice we endure it when we are obliged to suppress our feelings to fit in . We keep our true emotions away to the point we end up not knowing what we want and how we are at this point. Dostoevsky wants us to reveal our feelings and thoughts no matter how difficult the situation is. To cease love is a result of not recognizing our real feelings and ending up with losing our self-respect. The beauty of Literature is in its openness to all kinds of interpretation and my understanding and yours of the quote are part of a whole picture.

There was a time where I was young and in my first relationship. That quote at the beginning of the video about losing respect for not only yourself but everyone else while also losing the ability to love hits home like crazy. And I bet I wouldn't have understood the quote, especially the part about losing respect for others, if I hadn't experienced it so vividly myself

People constantly lie to themselves simply because they seem to have lost the ability to actually see themselves, their thoughts, their actions, instead they are too busy looking at others, judging others as it’s an easier thing to do. It takes lots of courage to be honest to oneself.

"Being upright and true to yourself" is among the qualities the Buddha praised a lot when you want any kind of personal progress

I sent this to my friends . This was so good. I didnt understand at the beginning but once you explained I actually understood. I needed to see something like this . Makes my challenges a bit clear to tackle now . Thank you!

Nice video 👍 “A map is not the territory it represents" - Alfred Korzybski, father of general semantics. Map shows river, forest but it does not contain any water or tree as the Territory. Our perceived knowledge ("map") of the reality ("territory") is an abstraction of the reality, not the reality itself. The problem is we forget that we made our map. Knowledge both liberating but also a trap.

I finished The Brothers Karamazov a few months ago, and it instantly became one of my favorite books ever. And I don’t have many favorites haha. It felt enlightening and therapeutic

I disagree with this interpretation. Lying to yourself means acting disingenuously or inauthentically, acting in a way that isn’t in accordance with your values. When one acts contrary to what they believe and hold dear in their hearts, they will become out of touch with themselves since their hypocrisy blinds their self-knowledge. Since they can’t even trust themselves to act honestly, how can they trust others? Since they have a general distrust of humanity/seeing only the bad in people, they will cease to love.

From a very long time I was feeling that I was not being whom I am. After seeing this video this became a little more clear. I think I'm a victim of spiritual narcissism.

This video has reincarnated my whole perspective to understand that you were not wrong, it was the knowledge of yours at that time which did served the truth. Pen down a new map and pursue the destination again, and if failed again, don’t think you failed, it was just your knowledge that did serve the truth.

this one's mind-blowing. the knowledge and truth shouldn't use interchangeably. what we know is not always the truth, we should test it and prove it to ourselves. so we must be open to change and feed our minds for true knowledge.

This was awesome and there are a lot of inspiring comments. That makes me feel hopeful for humanity to a certain degree

A very clear and amazing understanding

Thank you for explaining this. I've known this information for a while but never had it formulated in this way, thank you for that.

When I watched your video, I felt a great desire to learn English. Thank you very much..from an Arab follower

please keep doing this, really love your content

Thankyou for the Video and information, these are so valuable content and I'm grateful for this.

I was lost because my to myself lies drowned me, till my truths saved me. And now I have no hatred but only love and yearnings.

This is one of the advice that my dad always tells me, never lie to yourself. As it seems like the problem that I face is solved, but actually it was just saved for another day to blow up

Just love it! Much needed for me now! Please keep doing videos.. I really need ur videos!

Thank you brother 👍🏼

This vídeo reminded me about David Hume's Problem of Induction

This chanel is beyond great ness 👑

Best RU-vid channel

As a Domino's delivery driver in an area that often has constructions blocking the ways, this has been very helpful.

I found this quite interesting. I've never thought about how the knowledge that we have isn't particularly true. Like my plans and aspirations in life or different methods of how to live my life are not truth. They're all simply maps that could help guide me to the truth. I think about how there's a lot of different flavors of philosophy or religion. At times they can claim to be the truth but the reality is that they are maps to it. You have to follow that map to see if it's correct or not. I've tried to use many different productivity systems and they show to be the truth but they're really just a map. Some systems I have found to be valuable in bringing me to where I want to go and others actually aren't the map that was able to guide me to truth. Just my thoughts on the matter and beautifully made video.

Great video!

Having knowledge of something is better but to prove the knowledge you must have to experience the truth. Please someone correct me if I am wrong.

This is especially relevant in our current age of relativism! (Relevatism: the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.) Thank you so much for sharing this. I'm glad I found your channel!

Explained it beautifully

And by achieving the above, you start obtaining something called wisdom, which comes from years of life experiences, whether good ones or bad ones.

Love this❣️

The man who ceases to seek the truth but still loves the knowledge has reached an unheard point of freedom in thought.

I always tried to be very honest. Still ended up where I really dont know the truth from the lie either within or without, because life and humans are simply far too complex and contradictory to ever really be sure. It's all just a mess, tbh.

Is this a re-post? I watched a video about a month ago with the same content, yet the publish-date indicates 2 days ago. Glad to see someone mention General-Semantics. Though, I feel a little unsettled about this. Hmm... Anyway, my channel has a video about how to actually _do_ G.S. Cheers.

This is so profound to me.

I think sometimes you have to lie to yourself because the truth is hard to bear..

This is very very true definitely not ME.i could not be so sure.

nicely done

This is one of the most profound things iv ever learnt.

This is one of yogic principles. See the things the way it is.

Great video, thank you ❤️ (But I prefer to summarize books myself and get the paper version)

Wow my brain is melting

❤❤❤

You can't cover life with your hand. You can only cover life by putting your hands down and letting it slap you in the face, this way, you truly know what pain is and thus, you are never afraid of it. Face life even if it hurts.

The example on how believing you know the truth prevents you from seeing it was... what I needed

A little off topic. In David Eagleman's book "the brain" he says the most successful people in nearly every human pursuit are the ones that are most successful at lying to themselves. It is a great book, read it if you get a chance, there is a documentary series as well. But anyway, I was incredulous at first, how can anyone successfully lie to themselves. But there is lots of evidence people do it all the time in athletic pursuits, business, politics, religion, acting, marriage, child rearing.... Being able to convince yourself of something that is not objectively true in order to succeed or believe without doubt gives a person an edge in society. Living without lying to yourself may be almost impossible to do in reality. It seems like a worthy thing to try to do if one is not too connected to ones ego or worldly persuits....

I can listen to this all day 🧠💗

Lies seem to be the human brain's method of coping. A lot of the times, truth is painful and hard to confront so the brain finds ways to delude us by distorting reality. It's easy but unfortunately, not a good long-term solution...

So.. this video made me think in, if you know who you are, then are you lying to yourself? it makes sense, i think you can never truly know yourself, right?

More videos about Aristotle please!!

Thank you so much! It was the perfect timing for me :)

Sounds true ;)

"like all knowledge, you have to verify it for yourself"

Is it weird that I'm scared to change because I'm scared that I'll change if I change.

It depends on what the lie is about and maybe the perspective. If I lie to myself and say that the earth is flat, I'll definitely fail if I tried to reach the edge of the earth. If I get all Fs in college and lie to myself that I'm an A student, there's a lot of benefit for me in doing that and believing it despite it being a lie.

Don’t lie to yourself but not only with knowledge but also with actions. If you tell yourself you’re gonna do something and then don’t do it it’s also lying

Wow man! That part 1+1=2 and using the apples blew my mind! That was a great example I use mathematical formulas every day and I've been moving away from actual numbers. I'm assigning the datum so what difference does the number make it's just a shape I assigned?

Self deception is a gateway to depression and anxiety

'Crime and punishment' one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written. If you have the time read it

💚

If I deem that I want my final answer in the unit “apples” wouldn’t saying 1 apple + 1 apple = 2 apples be and example of truth?

I have to disagree about the "1+1=2" statement. Here is why: "1+1=2" is a simplified form of "1x + 1x = 2x" where "x" a unit of measurement (e.g. a chair, a metre, a second, etc), which is why "1+1=2" is, in and of itself, unitless. In the example "1 apple + 1 apple = 1000 atoms" this is not equivalent to "1+1=2" because the unit of an "apple" is not identical to the unit of an "atom". Thus we cannot conclude that "1+1=1000" in this case because, given our units are not identical, then we can't simplify our condition to such a unitless form. It is like saying "1m = 100cm, therefore 1 = 100" which is clearly false.... but why? That is because "1" and "100" are not identical, definitionally. Allow me to explain. You see, the statement "1+1=2" is true by definition of what "2" is. It is similar to saying "all black dogs are black". The blackness of the dog is made clear before the verb (i.e. "are") so after the verb, making its blackness clear again is only true on account of the fact that black=black, given that an object is always equal to itself because it contains all the same properties as itself. When calling a black dog "black" again (after "are"), no new property is being added to the descriptive condition of the existence of a black dog (before "are"), because this post-verb property (blackness) is the same as its pre-verb property (blackness). The same concept can be identified in "1+1=2" where "=" is the same as "is" so it is a verb. Every property of "1+1" (occuring before "is", so it is pre-verb) is the same as "2" (occuring after "is", so it is post-verb), where the only thing that has changed is what we call it (we say "two" because this is more whole and more convenient than "1+1" or "60-48" and etc), and to conflate unit measurements is only a linguistic misunderstanding. Now, one might say "well, isn't 'naming something as 1+1' a different property than 'naming something as 2' for example?" Yes, this is a different property of nomenclature, but this property is not substantive - calling an object a different name does not change the substance of that object, it doesn't change what that object is in of itself but only changes how it is perceived and how it is referred (e.g. calling a car an "automobile" or a "vehicle" or "transportation device" does not change the car but changes how you perceive it since it changes how you make linguistic reference with it). Since this property does not change what an object is, then it does not act on the verb "is" so it would not act on "=" and therefore this property of nomenclature is not metalogically relevant to the knowledge of "1+1=2". Let's look at another example that does not explicitly refer to physical objects like "dog". We can say, "1+1=2" is like saying "What is alive is not dead" where "alive" compares to "1+1", "is" compares to "=" and "not dead" compares to "2". The terms "alive" and "not dead" are differently named, like how "1+1" and "2" are differently named, but in terms of the verb "is" (or "="), they mean the exact same thing (i.e. definitionally, they express a concept that is identical with each other). So it is true, by definition. In fact, "1+1=2" is a certain type of knowledge. You see, if "1+1=2" is true by definition, and definitions are not physical objects, then "1+1=2" is also a concept which does not require physical experience to verify. Just like how we know how to calculate correctly the area of a triangle without testing every triangle possible (since the formula applies to all possible triangles). That is infinitely many triangles lol. Not all knowledge is derived empirically, that is with perceptual experience in the physical world, derived from our sense data (i.e. touching, hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing etc). Knowledge can also be derived rationally, according to our conceptual experience in our mind. E.g. we know that Socrates was mortal because he was a man and all men are mortal, therefore Socrates was mortal. We can reason this is true without having to physically experience him or his death, without having to detect him with our acquired senses. So, in a way, "1+1=2" is a.... different form of knowledge. Our knowledge of the physical world conforms to particular objects in the physical world (e.g. the knowledge of "generally spherical" conforms to a basketball, earth, an eyeball etc). But the different form of knowledge we see, this knowledge does not conform to physical material objects - in fact, physical objects conform to it instead! (E.g. all objects conform to the knowledge of "1+1=2" - it is unitless, and yet physical units conform to it!) This different form of knowledge does not concern itself by particular truths, but instead by universal truths. In summary: "1+1=2" is true by definition, and it isn't a particular truth but instead a universal truth (relative to my description of a "particular truth" and "universal truth"). More generally speaking, there are also different forms of knowledge, and the two types I described is what we know empirically (by way of physical reference) and what we know rationally (by way of abstract reasoning). But anyways, that is my opinion. Thanks for the video :)

"To know, is to know that you know nothing." Socrates

How tiny are those apples?

Interesting take, but I feel it's more about being courageous enough to speak the truth when it's easier not to. Not telling a co-worker his work was terrible (in your opinion) to 'safe' the relationship. Not admitting you have an adiction, when it's clear you can't stay away from alcohol.

Maybe I have a simpler view on the take, This is talking about objectivity, Facts are usually true, but sometimes they can be subjective (not true) and mere theories. It also depends on how you "define" the word "truth" inorder for it to be true, which is what he also means when it comes to langauge being limited. Because the words themselves are not objective in themselves , but subjective definitions of what someone "thinks" it should be called. Knowledge is the road, truth is where you wanna go or the destination , and true is what is possible within the moment.

if this is just your opinion than i want your book right now ! or make one 😐❤️

This is why I take nothing anyone says as a fact because I see the world for what it is. which is why I'll continue telling myself that the greatest disease on planet earth is human behavior especially if people continue to show the same patterns of behavior toward one another.

So all truth is temporary, and is only true in the moment of testing it.

A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness. - Alfred Korzybski, Science and Sanity (1933, p. 58)

This creates a paradox to say you’ll never speak the truth can’t be true all the time.

I don't know anything about Dostoevsky, but if this is what he thinks about truth, then it's kind of flawed. The concept of truth is intersting. Knowledge is a descriptor of truth. In the example of the map, the truth is the path you're going to take, the knowledge would be the actual path you took to get to your destination, which means knowledge can only be obtained after experiencing the truth. Some people use lies to describe the truth (like artists), and some people use the truth to promote a lie (google doublespeak for instance). It's all about what you're trying to convey or achieve. When speaking to someone, are you trying to convey the factual information about something or are you trying to describe a feeling or concept? In this very text I am trying to convey a concept to which I feel my words do not do the concept justice, but language is limited and my owns skills even more. If the toaster in your kitchen suddenly exploded, that would be quite the experience for you, your heart racing, eyes widening, all your thoughts about what happened, etc. But if you were trying to explain your experience to a friend at a later time, it would be nearly impossible for you to describe your experience accurately with only factual information. The actual explosion would be small without any flames, lasting a mere second, etc., which doesn't really describe your experience of the situation. In the moment that the toaster exploded, the shock you experienced could just as well have been from a meteor crashing into your house, you didn't know. But your experience in that moment would likely be similar. If you want to the person to understand the truth of your experience, you would likely have to exaggerate enourmously to promote even a tiny bit of the experience you had in the person listening. In this example you would describe the truth of your experience more accurately if you said a metetor crashed in your kitchen, because it would promote a feeling in the listener more accurate to your experience in that moment. It's factually a lie, but emotionally more accurate. Marcus Aurelius once said , "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." But aren't opinions facts? And aren't truths perspectives? Fact, in science, is just a "confirmed observation". Which means a fact is a description of a phenomenon by a person, aka. an opinion. The quote itself is an opinion, but also a truth to Marcus Aurelius, because everything he does hear is an opinion and everything he sees is a perspective. He is experiencing the truth of opinions and the facts of perspectives. And what about that image of two people facing each other with a 6 in the middle, one proclaims it's a 6 and the other a 9. Both are truth, but from different perspectives. If you claim the truth is neither of these and can never be described since perspectives are perspectives and never real truth, then the "real truth" is meaningless and useless and thus warrants no further attention. To me it seems like the ultimate truth would be every single perspective combined and understood instead of none of the perspectives are the truth. If you knew and understood every single perspective of an object, it would become crystal clear what it actually is. This is why professors often have a clearer picture of something because they have viewed a concept from many different angles over time, thought about it in different ways, which exposes more and more about the concept/object. The statement "Truth is not something that can be spoken" is a paradox, a self-contradictory statement. If that statement is true, it means the statement is false. If truth is something that can never be spoken, then how could you ever not lie to yourself? Anything you would say to yourself would by definition not be the truth since the truth cannot be spoken. Which means anything said is a lie. This means the statement "Truth is not something that can be spoken" is a lie. So, the statement can only be false no matter what. This is a good thing, because it means we can speak the truth, and knowledge can be obtained. So, what is the purpose of knowledge? Knowledge is information about the world and if you have the correct information you can manipulate the world around you. "Knowledge/truth is power". I am not religious but I find the concept of Jesus interesting. To me Jesus seems to be a personification of truth, and he says "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." This quote looks to me to be a receipe for life. "I am the way..." - This is how you do it. ", the truth" - You do it by seeking truth. ".. and the life." - You do it through lessons and experience. "No one comes to the Father except through Me." -It is impossible to become whole again without truth. This basically means, if you want to become whole, or ascend, or enlightened, or meaning of life, or whatever words you use for it, you have to seek truth and build your character upon your lessons in life and learn from them to evolve. So I agree that you shouldn't lie to yourself, that you should seek truth, try your best to speak the truth, and always be willing to expand your bank of knowledge to changing information. Jesus also says "I am the light of this world". Light makes things visible, thus providing information not previously available in darkness. This information can be gathered and used to manipulate the world around you. This is why "knowledge is power". Light, bright, brilliant, illuminated, knowledge, these are all synonyms of truth.

Do a video on truth? Detail answer

Could you make a video about ways of testing our knowledge and being open-minded, please?

I just love your videos,so deep and thoughtful.....keep going man love your work ❤️

Your mind is real, so I don't understand why 1+1=2 isn't real as a very true logical relation (Ofc it depends on what definition do you give to each one of those symbols, I'm using the conventional definition in current maths)

I'm in the middle of anxiety wreck thinking if me dropping out of college would be me lying to myself to make me feel better even tho deep down I know that I won't like it there, I failed so many classes in the past and not even being able to balance them with my part time.. I want out and I want to learn from online classes with industrial experts instead.. don't wanna waste more money on boomers that only gave me tasks and a RU-vid link tutorial

I dont understand the last part where he says when he cant distinguish the truth within himself and around him to a point where he loses all respect for himself and for others and having no respect he ceases love. I dont get the ending part like how

Good video

Discovered this channel a few months ago. Helped me overcome a heartbreaking treason. Easy to follow, even for non native English speakers. I’d love to hear / read about your analysis of the second part of the citation : ‘ and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.’ I understood that when you lie to yourself, you can’t see the truth anymore but I can’t see the link with loss of respect and loss for love. Thank you !

A priest? Talk about lying to yourself. 🤦‍♀️

Such an enjoyable, valuable video and the comment section!

Dude you are on to something but you need a better way to explain you all this

So I’ve been knowledgeable but I haven’t been truthful. I have a lot of work to do on myself.

"those who say they know, don't know. only those who say they don't know, know" - some eastern asian tradition

So today i gained KNOWLEDGE, that says KNOWLEDGE is not true...

In my opinion, this was more profound than Fyodor Dostoyevsky's quote. It shows how to apply the quote to everyday life. Thanks for sharing.

The TRUTH is what's actual, but varies depending on the context. KNOWLEDGE is your current understanding of traversing the path of TRUTH. What's TRUE is a snapshot of TRUTH, it's the current path to what's actual.

So, we shall send this video to believers of flat earth theory.

Awesome 👏🏾. I have a crush on you just by voice and knowledge lol

Knowledge is not truth, because knowledge can be faulty. As the example in the video knowledge is the way you think can get you to your destination. So we can say that knowledge is subjective and that truth is objective (Truth being the actual way to your destination). But then the question is, what is your destination? Do we all have the same destination or individual destinations? The destination also determines the path. But we shouldn't think that knowledge is useless or always wrong. As the video says, knowledge can be true, but not truth itself. In other words, something or someone can be in alignment with the truth. So, in my view, the truth isn't something you can necessarily know, but it is something you must do. It is a path you must walk. I think that is what made Christ's words "I am the way, the truth, and the life..." so profound. (If we are referring to God as our destination). Christ did not state he knows the way, or he knows the truth, or he knows life, because how would we then know if his knowledge is true? But he said that he is the way (in other words, he is one with the way of truth), he is the truth (one with the truth) and he is the life (one with life). So then, how can a person claim this? Well, I would say through wisdom. What is wisdom? Wisdom is the knowledge I gain from the truth that I apply or put into action, and those actions are according to truth (the walk is on the road of truth itself). So, to go back to objective and subjective... I would say that truth is objective, but can only be experienced subjectively. The true path is already laid there, but if you know where this path is and manage to walk on it, you will experience it subjectively (through feelings, opinions, and actions) Hope this made sense. What are your thoughts?