Countering Deception with What You See Is What You Get WYSIWYG #Deception

WYSIWYG as a Rule of Life?

WYSIWYG (pronounced "wizywig") is an acronym that stand for "What You See Is What You Get” No, this is not some boring discussion about building websites or using HTML editors, which is where this acronym seems to have originated from.  

WYSIWYG is much more important than that.  It is, to me, a rule of life and for keeping things simple, from a social and personality standpoint.  But how can I explain where WSIWYG fits into this?  Here is one example:

I once had a boss who read into everything that I said, as if there was some kind of hidden meaning or intent behind my words. This was unfortunate, because I had no hidden intent, nor was I projecting any other meaning.  They must have just been jaded by the constant deception in the world around us.

I said what I meant, and meant what I said, exactly as I said it. I couldn't understand why my words, despite basic and straight forward they were, could have a hidden meaning. I can truly tell you, they did not!

My words were a reflection of me and my intent – what you see is what you get – WYSIWYG. There was no hidden meaning or intent behind my simple words. I said what I meant, and meant what I said.  

Unfortunately, I was surprised to dins out that this is not how others deal with each other.  This is worth knowing, even for those of us who appreciate simple things and simple living don't like to read into things.  

Those of us who like things simple and uncomplicated do not try to project to others things other than how they actually are. This seems to be a big issue these days, because there is so much hidden meaning in this age of fake news, false media, deception and deceit.

The 13 Basic Principles of WYSIWYG as a Rule of Life

Recall the scene in the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles where John Candy actually touches on this point and says something to the effect, “I’m the real me, what you see is what you get”. That is what this concept, and this article, are all about. So here are some basic principles for "being WYSIWYG":

• Being genuine and honest
• Not being deceptive in any way
• Not hiding behind the fine print
• Being respectful, polite, and acting with dignity
• Letting your yes mean yes and your no mean no
• No hidden agendas, meanings or intentions behind what you say
• No ulterior motives for what you're saying
• Not being two-faced or acting one way and meaning another
• Not being ambiguous or difficult to interpret or understand
• Keeping things simple, straightforward and uncomplicated
• Sticking to the basics, the facts, and to reasonable estimations
• Having good intentions and acting right
• Giving others the positive benefit of the doubt

Of all these, the motive of being genuine, honest and straight forward without deception are most important. This is because so many things today seem like they're packaged with deception and deceit by default.

This deception and under-handedness happens with purchases we make, with things we're told on the Internet and perhaps also other forms of media, as well as in politics and entertainment. What's really bad is we've come to allow and accept this behavior as normal, rather than unacceptable. What a shame, people!

Politics is the Worst At This

In the realm of politics, we have some of the worst-ever examples that violate our WYSIWYG principles I mentioned earlier. There seem to always be hidden agendas, hidden pullers of strings, hidden meanings and enough ambiguity and legal talk to deceive. This is so unfortunate.

If you’ve ever seen the movie Abraham Lincoln, the political deceptions can be seen as nothing new or unique to this modern era. In fact, the way of deception and deceit goes back to the beginnings of mankind, and is unfortunate. What I am proposing here, using the concept of WYSIWYG, is for people to counteract this tendency toward deception, as a general rule.

WYSIWYG Background

This acronym, WYSIWYG, is usually associated with web page building, because it means that what you type into a web page builder is what you should see, or get, in the actual web browser when viewing it (same view behind the scenes and on the front end)

I'm using the WYSIWYG acronym to relate not to a web page, but to real life, whether personal or professional. To me, the saying “What you see is what you get” has a very important personal significance on the true character of an individual. It means we should be the same whether behind the scenes or on the front end.

What people see is (and should be) the real deal. No games, no show, no hidden meanings or hiding any real feelings. Unfortunately, society itself seems to set this up for failure by their expectations. We expect things to be a certain way, so this is what we are given, rather than truth and transparency.

Yes, there are probably occasions (I call these "exceptions" to the general rule of WYSIWYG) where being straight forward is not practical or helpful. In these cases, we must be a good judge of cause and effect, and determine if the effect is not worth the straightforwardness.

However, these exceptions do not justify deception. Instead, avoidance is probably the better choice. Otherwise, we can violate trust the moment we begin to use deception. We should find a better way, and aim for the high road rather than the low road, when and where we can.

WYSIWYG is the way it ought to be, as a general rule, when we deal with others, in either personal or professional settings. It means we must let our yes mean yes and your no mean no. 

This means people should be able to take us at face value for what we say and do, and not have to read into us, find any hidden meanings in our words, hidden actions in secret, hidden agendas in our personalities and psychological makeup or otherwise spend their time to figure us out.

WYSIWYG means we're not being deceptive, but instead we're being up front, frank, clear and truthful. It means that what we say is honest, and does not have any hidden agenda or “reading between the lines” that has to occur, but instead can be taken at face value. This is of great necessity when trust and reliability for decision is at stake.

That's why I say WYSIWYG Rules! It's the only right way things should be done and viewed, as a general rule. When you follow WYSIWYG, you become a person of honesty and integrity, who says what they mean and means what they say. Then, you become trustworthy and reliable, amongst perhaps many who are not, and your value increases head and shoulders above the rest.

This creates much more value, authority, trustworthiness and success for you and can make you number one, above the rest who lack genuineness and use deception, as the cheaters that they are, trying to get ahead. 

I'll continue this discussion in part two of Living Simple by WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get Part 2 so stay tuned.  #Deception  #FightDeception  #CounteringDeception