The Anthropological Looking Glass Analysis

When looking at common repercussions of brutal honesty, such as hurt feelings or damaged relationships, it is easily noted that some remarks are better left unspoken. Occasionally, when a question is proposed, it is socially inappropriate to leave it unanswered as the silent yet extremely noticeable hesitation may be more insulting than giving an honest answer. Honesty is and has always been depicted as a positive attribute but seldom is light shed on the possible detrimental consequences it can have on an individual, a family, a community, or even a nation. Not even professionals are safe, as ethnographer and author Nancy Scheper-Hughes experienced various penalties of her honesty, recalling the repercussions in her reflective article “The Anthropological Looking Glass”. Throughout this piece, Scheper-Hughes summarizes the controversy and backlash she received after publishing her book Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics:
All things considered, it is more damaging to say too much as opposed to saying too little. Throughout all communities in the United States as well as a universal truth, preventing something from happening is much easier than repairing damage done. In terms of silence versus honesty, holding a tongue is often easier than recalling words previously spoken. Whether it is a tribe of indigenous people in the Congo or the Amish community in Nappanee, Indiana, no case of silence and honesty is typical. Given a negative connotation, individuals fear the term ‘lying by omission’ yet it is something commonly done, both consciously and unconsciously, throughout their lifetimes. By using silence as both a weapon for peace and a shield of anonymity, persons breaking tradition have the power to utilize these tools to their advantage. With the tools of silence being in their grasp, all which is left is for them to keep their mouths