#177 - To be a Truthy or a Smarty?
A story about those who live in the world of black or white
Once upon a time in a land far away there lived two friends: Smarty and Truthy. Smarty was smart and Truthy liked being truthful. The two were the best of friends, two peas in a pod. They ate, slept, even chased rabbits together.
As it so happened, the two were invited to a friend’s wedding far far away. It was a trip both were excited to make together. At the last minute, some unavoidable work came Truthy’s way and he had to stay back. Upset, he asked his dear friend Smarty to go ahead without him. He told Smarty that even though he wouldn’t be making the trip for their common friend who was getting married, he wanted to chip in for the gift for their friend. Truthy shared with Smarty his budget for the gift.
Some days later, Truthy received a call from Smarty. Smarty told him the wedding was grand and that everybody missed Truthy. Then Smarty slipped in what Truthy owed him. The figure that dropped into his ears was not what he expected. It was bigger. Truthy could sense hesitation in Smarty’s voice. But it was Smarty, his best friend, so smart and so brilliant. How could he do anything suspicious? A tiny voice inside Truthy began to lift its head but Truthy immediately shut it down. He hung up and sent the precise quoted amount to Smarty. Even-steven.
Years passed. Truthy and Smarty went their separate ways. They took up jobs, had families of their own, made other friends, achieved big things in life. Then, one day, Truthy made a discovery. He found out that on the day of that phone call all those years back Smarty wasn’t telling him the truth. That, maybe, for the wedding that Truthy missed, Truthy didn’t just pay his share of the gift. He paid for the entire gift. He paid for both of them. Smarty didn’t pay a penny.
It wasn’t a big amount, definitely not now after all these years but that’s what made it worse. Why would his friend cheat him for a pittance? Why would Smarty, the brightest among all his friends, lie to him for a pinch? The thought didn’t sit right with him. Truthy wanted to give his old friend Smarty the benefit of the doubt but he could not. He could not let it go. He beat himself up for not listening to that voice inside of him all those years back. Yet, what to do now? He couldn’t bring himself to confront Smarty—that would be weird, he thought. So he cut himself off.
Cut to: present day. Decades passed. It is many generations hence. The descendants of Truthy and Smarty now call themselves Truthies and Smarties. The tribes don’t see eye to eye. In fact, you may even call them mortal enemies seeing how each clan bristles at the sight of the other. The Truthies believe that the Smarties stand for all that is wrong with the world. The Smarties believe the same but just swap places with the Truthies.
After some cultural evolution and careful thought, the two tribes have come up with some rules of thumb—mainly, three—to make living simple.
1️⃣Each believes the world is made of two kinds of people: Truthies and Smarties. If someone isn’t a Truthy, they have to be a Smarty; and vice versa.
2️⃣It is extremely unpleasant–almost vile—for a member of one tribe to set eyes on a member of the other, much less cross paths, so both tribes have taken extreme precautions for such a thing to not happen. They have chosen to live on opposite sides of a hill.
3️⃣Sometimes, they find people–strangers—stranded on the hill, wandering about on the steep slopes, lost, tribe-less. It is dangerous terrain and not advisable for anyone to be on their own. Should they ignore the stranger or save them by bringing them into their tribe? For this too the two tribes have a clear rule: The closer the stranger is to their side of the foothills, the more alike the stranger is to them and the quicker they must be brought in. That leaves anyone on the opposite side of the hill out of consideration. In fact, that makes anyone on the other side the enemy. The closer a stranger is to the opposite foothills, be it for the Truthies or the Smarties, the less alike they are and the farther away they should be banished. No Truthy has ever climbed up the hill and gone down the slope on to the other side to haul a stranger all the way up and over to the side of the Truthies. Neither has any Smarty been known to do this. That would lead to ridicule and ostracization.
Hiding in plain sight from the Truthies and the Smarties, the strangers are actually the Independents. The Independents are no tribe but since a name is needed for those who are not Truthies or Smarties, that is the name that has befallen them. The Independents though are all different from each other in manner and habit. They prefer doing things their own way and reject, more or less, the rules of living of the Truthies and Smarties. Some Independents are aggressively independent. They hate being associated with any one tribe, Truthies or Smarties. Others may be more mild-mannered but still would rather make sense of the world outside of the binary of Truthy or Smarty. You may even say that everything about the Independents is on a spectrum. There are few absolute truths or lies about them.
If you ask any of the Truthies or Smarties, however, the Independents are unicorns. Figments of the imagination. There simply can’t be a third kind. It is against all that any pedigreed Truthy or Smarty has ever been told and against everything they have come to put their faith in. No wonder, then, that both tribespeople merrily spend their time tagging every new face on the hill as us versus them.
Those who see the world in black and white spend a lot of energy pushing people out of the many shades of gray and into just black OR white. Because they use up so much of themselves in the process, it feels too big a loss to be proven wrong. So, when questioned, they defend their judgment tooth and nail. They continue to believe in their superiority.
👋Hi, I’m Satyajit and thank you for your time. I learn from the best with the goal of unpacking lessons that help make decisions for a better career and a better life.