Do you think you can ever trully totally know another person?

posted by The Wizard



Ugh. Why would you want to? Doesn’t your head hurt enough trying to get to know yourself?

posted by Tin Man



Well, yeah, but knowing yourself is kind of a never-ending process. At certain points however, you feel like you do reach a point where you do know yourself. Can you do that with other people? Know them inside and out?

posted by The Wizard



Well, I think you can I guess. Know someone I mean. I think you can figure out a person’s motivations by talking to them, or by observing them and interpreting their actions. People always have a reason for doing things and I think it’s quite possible to know somebody well enough so that you can define their motivation(s).

posted by Tin Man



But talking to people and observing them is superficial isn’t it? What people say and what they do is only a reflection of what they want to show to people. I mean, I could talk to you all day long and you could ask me millions of questions but at the end of the day, it’s only what I’ve chosen to respond to that forms your judgement.

posted by The Wizard



Yeah, but I think people reveal much more than they want to. Over an extended amount of time, it’s hard to always put on the “good” face. People will eventually see you…..warts and all…..as a friend used to say. Isn’t it funny how friends are often able to characterize us, and describe us, while we mostly stand around groping in the dark?

posted by Tin Man



You don’t think that’s because friends tend to simplify things?

posted by The Wizard



Well, not really. If anything, sometimes what a friend says is closer to the truth because people tend to twist their own actions and motivations so that they can live with the consequences. Friends don’t have to do that. In that way, I think friends are usually pretty non-partisan.

posted by Tin Man



I dunno. I still kind of think that there is always a side of you that nobody else will ever fully know. No one can enter into the thoughts of another person fully enough to ever totally understand them.

posted by The Wizard



I don’t think a person can predict what you might do or think about every stupid little thing out there but I think generally speaking, it’s within the realm of possibility to completely figure out what drives a person to be the way they are.

posted by Tin Man



I’m getting tired. This is a little too much for me. What time do you usually go to bed?

posted by The Wizard



Well, I would have to say, probably a few minutes after you go to bed.

posted by Tin Man



Oh. That’s comforting.