As part of the British Science Festival, Brunel University Law School and the British Science Association have collaborated on a project to discover if a common standard of honesty among people exists. The research focuses on criminal law and the need to prove defendants dishonesty in order to gain a conviction.
I consider myself to be an honest person and wanted to test my belief in the ‘honesty lab’, thankfully I still consider myself to be honest, but my contribution to this research highlighted the fine moral line that guides our perception of what is honest.
Are we “doing honesty” or being honest?
In this “dog eat dog” world we will all face circumstances where we are tempted to apply situational ethics to gain the edge.
Last week the British Olympic gold medallist, Rebecca Adlington, hit the headlines when she refused to wear a performance enhancing swim suit because she considered it cheating. A legal battle by the manufactures has prevented the suit from being banned, and so, Rebecca’s competitors will wear this suit and believe that their honesty and integrity is intact. When the truth is out, who has the edge?
Honesty = Trust
When we act dishonestly we become a mystery, people are not able to read us and this leads to distrust and suspicion. Without trust we have no credibility and it is this that is at the core of being able to influence people and provide strong leadership.
Trust = Confidence
If we consider that we all need a level of confidence to conquer life’s problems, can success hinge on others having confidence in our actions and motives? Confidence is what encourages us to take risks and success is rarely achieved without risk.
Be True to Yourself
The results from the ‘honesty lab’ experiment will be presented at the British Science Festival in September, until then my belief will be that the level of a person’s honesty is linked to their self respect and respect of others. Be true to yourself, when we are real and open as people we show our true self to others, we can show that we are genuine and can be relied upon.
“The truth is the only thing worth having, and, in a civilized life, like ours, where so many risks are removed, facing it is almost the only courageous thing left to do” – E.V. Lucas
