One thing you should never do is speak badly of people to others when they are not in your presence. Gossiping and backbiting are some of the most corrosive social practices and the root of so many other evil phenomena. 

There is a term in Hebrew called הרע‎, pronounced as lashon hara, and translated literally as "evil tongue,” intended to underline how horrible a social practice it is that is directly proscribed in halakhic law. Likewise in Islam negatively gossiping about other people is one of the most condemned acts and traditionally analogized as being as grave as fratricide.

Instead of speaking poorly of others one should in fact cultivate a practice of saying truthfully positive things about them and spreading good news about people rather than bad. It creates a virtuous cycle and also feels good. Over time and space this can build resilient communities with high bonds of social trust and minimized conflict.

I’ll take an opposing view for the sake of the feed 🫡

“Never speak badly of others when they are not in your presence” implicitly benefits actors with reach, suppresses dissent, entrenches existing power dynamics, and reduces coordination for those who need it most under the guise of “pro-social behavior”

weird internet kid. helping Creators with /seemore. yapping on /okbanger. curating in /creators and /cameron. dev + veteran + HBS. 
seemore.tv/cameron 🫡

Are you saying it’s better to speak badly of people in their faces?


Geophysicist || web3 || UI/UX || art || FCB ❤️ 

no - i'm saying that if you're "not allowed" to speak badly of others without them present, then that disproportionately benefits people who have high social status/power because it is too costly (in terms of reputation) for low status people to critique them publicly

Thank you for clarifying your point, the idea that it benefits people who have high social status could lead to a lack of accountability for those in positions of power.
How do you think we can form like a dialogue or critique without a toxic environment?