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Why do so many people on this forum seem to believe that being polite inherently implies lying to each other? I just want to understand this line of thinking.

• a_tractor 8y ago
  >AND we don't lie to each other How on earth could you possibly know that? >so many people on this forum >polite inherently implies lying That understanding of "polite" is at least centuries old and spans almost every culture where the concept exists. There is an entire structure of unwritten social rules that is designed to avoid the not-so-obvious dishonesty of politeness. For instance, in some cultures, it is polite to offer food to a guest, even to the point where a host might offer all food they will have for a week. They obviously do not want to go hungry for the week, but they will feel compelled, in the name of being polite, to offer it anyways. They will also never admit this to a guest, but as a guest if you are aware of their poverty then you will probably try to politely decline the offer, even if you are hungry. You could not in good conscious take the last of their food, but you also do not want to expose your reasons and embarrass them either... it goes on and on. Hopefully you get the point.