Kindness and Correctness

 Whoever said it was more important to be kind than right could not handle being served a conflicting belief. The sentiment reeks of a sore loser.

Also, who said the two were separate? People can tell ruthless lies and the gentlest of truths.

But if we want to view the two as mutually exclusive, I think correctness trumps kindness. The way I interpret this, the underlying tussle is between maintaining interpersonal relations and reaching a workable conclusion. The world is often against the latter.

Preferring interpersonal relations - choosing kindness - is a short-sighted goal. It appeases everyone for the time being, but it doesn't solve anything. The problem, argument or conflict will resurface. It may even become compounded. Eventually, there will be a point where kindness will not solve anything.

However, correctness can be a bitter pill to swallow. This is especially true if correctness unearths a conflicting notion to long-held beliefs. In this case, one would naturally want to defend oneself and fall back on the "but kindness" argument - which doesn't solve anything.

Correctness, if preferred for solving arguments or problems, goes to the root of the conflict and ends it from there. Even though it may be impalatable in the immediate run, it will prevent problems from resurfacing and compounding. As someone who personally prefers productivity over being a people-pleaser, I far prefer correctness over kindness.

But again, the adage that it is important to be kind, not right, misses a key point: the two are not mutually exclusive. Truths can be phrased tactfully, and unkind lies lurk around every corner.

I just don't think it's fair to shut down a 'correct' argument with, "Yeah, well, it's not kind."