Do you practice “truthiness”?

Comedy Central satirist Steven Colbert is credited with the word “truthiness.” He defined it as "truth that comes from the gut." That statement elicits many questions for me, the first being what does that mean? I am not sure what he means exactly although I do think the roots of "truthiness" have to lie in honesty. It's not something made up unless you're gut reactions are generally dishonest ones and I don't think most people's are. Plus, you can't tell a lie and call it truth or truthiness unless you didn't know it was a lie but who doesn't know when they are lying? Maybe it's an individualized truth - meaning that my truth or your truth or whoever's truth aren't necessarily the same. It's what feels like the truth for each of us.

Many people question what truth really means which brings us to the question as to whether the definition of truth is subject to debate? If I'm asked if I like a friend's new car and I really don't but I say "I like how roomy it is and the leather seats are very nice" it is an honest response but it doesn't answer the question. It's sort of a shade of the truth. So is that truthiness? And would some people say that I was being dishonest because I really don't like the new car which would be the outright, overall honest answer?

I do think that honesty is, for the most part, black and white. We teach our kids to tell the truth no matter what. That either something happened or it didn't. That cheating is not okay in any circumstance. But then there is so much that isn't black and white or seemingly and that is when we employ truthiness. When we don't like the black or white answer. The way things happen, for example, are subject to interpretation. The whys surrounding what happened can be many. Is it okay to copy a peer's homework? To be unfaithful to a spouse? To take a pack of post-it notes from the office supply cabinet? To tell a white lie to spare someone's feelings? To convey a made up schedule conflict as an excuse to not a attend a party? With all of these examples (as well as many others) I think many of us could convince ourselves that there are reasons or caveats that would make all of these things acceptable or okay. That these dishonest practices or acts are less so depending on many factors? Is that truthiness then? When there's more to be considered that just what the 100% honest answer is?

It can be complicated. One wouldn't think so but it is. Sometimes the gray makes it so. When we don't want to hurt feelings. When circumstances surrounding something are not 'normal'. When the people involved are loved ones you don't want to see hurt. Is there really a difference between the truth and what Colbert calls truthiness? Isn't most of what our gut reactions are based on what is right, what is just, what is honest? If that's the case then I do practice truthiness. But is that the same as always speaking the truth? I'm not sure. What about you? Do you practice truthiness? How close to the truth do you think that is? Do you think your answer means that you are an honest person? How important is that to you?