In Egypt, are we hypocrites? – Abdo Magdy | Entrepreneur, Researcher & AI Engineer

Well, here we go with another sensitive topic, but what #Getting_Real I promised myself to stick with in 2014 might be less than exploring what matters the most and rarely explored and trying to define the principles upon which we want to live and build our society, if you are in your 20s I think that should be one of the important questions to ask yourself.

A few times I was having some true talks and I mentioned something awkward like: “All acts of our society, are based upon hypocrisy”, oh yah, of course you get some equally awkward reaction when you say that among people, who are basically are the society, you’re talking about.

But, C’mon, ain’t that true already?

Ain’t our family meetings and chit-chats are about showcasing how great everyone is? Ever talked about concerns, challenges or dreams? How can we help?

Ain’t most of those experience the pressure of finishing school do that because of “societal pressure” not out of passion or even benefit?

Ain’t marriage in our society is more about social status and financial security more than actual love or human connection? What do parents check and hunt for?

Ain’t all relationships within your limited social circles look publicly perfect, people shake hands and kiss cheeks, but what’s inside is inside?

Ain’t most of us are lying about being in “competition” and twisting the qualities of “collaboration” and “co-creation” to avoid direct confrontation? Pussies much?

Ain’t we shy away from having real strategic partnerships in business and within “ecosystems” because we pretend to be partners already and strike from behind or below the belt?

Ain’t most of the behavior you observe from those “partners” and “friends” can be considered “passive aggressive”?

Ain’t we hide ourselves most of the time behind shiny Facebook statuses, tweets and blog posts?

Doesn’t that just make us hypocrites?

Let’s say that in the last 10 year when I could understand being a part of a society, above 16 years old, I felt it’s not true, really? You like me because I’m top of my class? Do you really dare to break through all the superficial defense mechanisms and sneak into everyone’s true self, touch their pains and really “connect” with them?

When you go in disagreement or competition, why don’t you just state that if you do this we are in goddamn competition that will cost us both, let’s partner better? But people do everything they can to avoid that, they end up with passive aggressive behavior, I will hit you from behind, but nicely, because we are friends. If you say something about competition you are the bad guy, really?

If you step on my toes, I will cut your balls off, if you have any!

Does the above statement scare you, yes, I wrote that on my Facebook status, I really like it, not necessarily like I will do it, but I think it makes sense as a warning.

So, why don’t we talk about what matters? Why it’s socially unacceptable to state things as it is? It would be even more acceptable to lie than to state something that would sound perfectly fine to me.

Personally, I’m not good at hiding stuff you know and I plan to stick with the truth, if I don’t like it I will say it out loud and If I don’t like you, I will let you know and equally if I like you, I will let you know. I feel quite free and don’t need to hide myself like most people do.

That probably scares some people away and I don’t mind, be my guest.

With all our imperfections, with all our fears and failures we are beautiful creatures already. So, don’t hide yourself, your feelings or your situations for any reason.

I love this scene from The Phone Booth, the guy is messed up inside, like most of us, but at least he can afford the truth and he would be loved even more after it.