Hypocrisy they may not agree with to make money, I’m
not saying it’s right but that’s their livelihood.
1. Hi, my name is Johanna Cloutman and I'm a
massive hypocrite. Being a hypocrite means
that you have a moral double standard, you
believe that it’s ok for you to do or say one
thing but demean others when they do
something similar. Let’s use lying as an
example, I mean most of us here believe that
lying is wrong, right?
2.
Then why is it that we believe lying is ok if it’s for a
good reason? We wouldn’t condone lying about
where you were if the police were questioning you
yet, we think it’s ok to tell someone their food is
good, when we really hate it. Yes, we’re all guilty of
a little hypocrisy, whether we were on the
receiving end or we were the ones being
hypocritical, but the real question you should be
asking yourself is, am I a hypocrite? There are 2
kinds of hypocrites that I’m sure all of us here have
experienced, the first being the social media
hypocrite.
3. Raise your hand if you have any form of social
media; I’m talking Instagram, snapchat,
YouTube, or even Facebook. Ok, you can put
your hands down, my question for you is, does
what you post on social media reflect your real
life? Now, this may sound like a dumb question,
because of course we only post the highlights
of our lives, nobody wants to scroll through
Instagram and read about everyone else’s
problems. The social media hypocrite shows
the world a version of themselves which really
doesn’t exist. They portray a life that they’re
not really living.
Now, maybe your starting to realize that you
yourself are a social media hypocrite, I know I
did, which begs to question, why? To impress
others, to feel better about yourselves, to be
someone you’re not, these are just a few
reasons why we post what we post. I mean why
do we feel the need to make our lives seem
perfect for everyone else’s viewing pleasure?
The concept of celebrities being hypocritical
online makes sense, for example, Kim
Kardashian endorses products she don’t use
herself. Celebrities need to promote things that
But for the average person, like you and me,
there really is no good reason for our
hypocritical status (stay-tis).
4. The second kind of hypocrite is one we all know
very well, the everyday hypocrite. People like
me and you who tend to just accept the fact
that we’re hypocrites. Now, I don’t want to just
assume all of us here are hypocrites, so let’s do
a quick yes or no quiz, I’ll ask some questions
and just think to yourself whether it applies to
you. Let’s start: do you give advice to others,
but fail to follow this advice yourself? Do you
try volunteer others, when you yourself would
never volunteer? Do you act different in public
than you do in your own home? Do you excuse
your friend’s behaviours, but hold others up to
a higher standard? And finally, do you believe
that everybody should be kind to one another,
but it’s ok if you make a few comments about
others behind their backs, I mean it’s only the
truth isn’t it?
If you answered yes to any of these questions,
then great, admitting your hypocrisy is the first
step to self-help and moral enlightenment. If
you answered no to all of these questions, well
then sadly it is my job to inform you that you
are in fact a hypocrite, no point sugar coating
it, research has shown that the average person
makes a hypocritical statement at least twice a
day. Examples of the everyday hypocrite can be
seen in, well everyday life. Common examples
of how hypocrisy applies to our lives can be
found on the roads. Raise your hand here if you
can drive. Now, take a moment and think of
when you first started driving, you weren’t
perfect and let’s be honest you probably made
a few mistakes. So why is it now, when
someone in front of us makes a mistake, we’re
quick to judge or express our anger?
5. Thankfully for us, being hypocritical is not
regarded as a mental disorder, instead it’s seen
as more of a common human trait. According
to psychologist Robert Kurzban, hypocrisy is a
result of specialized units in our dorsal cortex
and anterior insula, not working together as
they should, meaning the balance breaks down,
causing people to develop contradictory
beliefs. Though being hypocritical does not
directly impact us physically, it may lead to our
peers viewing us in a negative manner,
therefore affecting our relationships with those
around us. We all know that feeling when
someone acts like we’re in the wrong for doing
something and then goes around and does it
themselves? Like when someone who has the
occasional cigarette tells a regular smoker to
quit. Well, it’s this feeling that eventually leads
to resentment, friction between friends, which
may spiral into larger issues such as the
relationship falling apart, all as a result of
someone’s hypocrisy.
I’ve been standing up here for the past 4
minutes preaching the issues with hypocrisy
and so it would be hypocritical of me not to
show you both sides of the story. The truth is...
There are times that it is good to be a
hypocrite. Yes ik, my reaction of shock horror
was the same as you, but there is actual
scientific proof that certain aspects of hypocrisy
can elicit a positive change in behaviour.
In 1994 an experiment was conducted, where
a group of college students were told to record
a speech preaching the idea that condoms
should be used every time people have sex.
After the speech, the students were questioned
about their own unsafe sex experiences, and
then they were then sent out to buy condoms
for themselves. As a result, we were able to see
that those who had publicly announced their
positive attitude towards safe sex and then
thought about their hypocritical failures on
having safe sex, purchased more condoms than
participants who had not. This experiment
shows that in order to avoid feeling
inconsistent, people who are led to see their
own hypocrisy tend to change their behaviours.
Long story short, in order to avoid being seen
as an arsehole, we try to line up our beliefs
with what we say to one another and it is our
awareness of our hypocrisy which ironically
makes us less hypocritical.
Hypocrisy is woven so deep into our society
that most of us don’t even notice when we’re
being hypocritical. I mean how hypocritical is it
of me to come up here and preach hypocrisy to
you, when I know full well everything I’ve said
here today applies to me. Being a hypocrite is
in our human nature, it’s just another way we
lie to ourselves, so why bother trying to
change? Yes, hypocrisy in large doses can be
problematic, especially for relationships, but
that doesn’t mean we should try to change
human nature and eliminate our hypocritical
side. At the end of the day, small displays of our
hypocrisy can help us grow as people, so as
long as we’re not hurting others, why try fix
what’s not broken?
At the beginning of this topic I asked you
whether you were a hypocrite and now, I hope
you can see that the answer is yes. Because we
are all hypocrites. You, me, the person sitting
beside you. Hypocrisy isn't negative, but
instead, is something we can all work on.
Because when we close the distance between
what we say and what we do, not only are we
less hypocritical, but we are able to build
stronger, better relationships with not just the
people around us, but ourselves. As Germany
Kent says, “When you know better, you do
better. ”That being said, I truly believe that
acknowledging our hypocritical ways is the only
way forward.