People often have presumptions about what it is like to be right or honest. They have concrete visions of what a right or honest person is. Often, the righteous are seen as ever placid and calm, never being subject to outside influences. However, this is an unrealistic and damaging expectation of what it means to be right or honest. It may be modeled after Jesus Christ or the stoics. The truth is that being right or honest requires violent or abrupt actions at times, and a threat to values deserves concern, thought, and action. Indeed, being too placid and calm can be a sign that a person is valueless, that they simply don’t care about what happens to them or things in this world.
Emotions can often abound when a threat to values is present; a person may cry, rage, or panic. Although, it isn’t good to be so wrapped up in your emotions that you can’t adequately deal with a problem; emotions are appropriate responses to real world threats. Emotions often allow us to deal with something that would take too long to think through in the time span it is presented to us. However, in regards to something like anger when it comes to telling the truth, people often think that if you’re angry you’re guilty. To make people believe you, it is often better to remain calm when someone accuses you of lying. Yet, studies have shown that innocent people get angry when falsely accused the same or more than people that are guilty. Merely because a person is calm doesn’t mean they’re right or honest.
An overly placid or calm person may be so because they are valueless and simply don’t care about themselves or the world. When a person doesn’t care about their own lives or the lives of others, there’s nothing that would tie them to the world to make them uncalm. Such a person has no urgency to take action, since there’s nothing an action would be directed towards. Emotions would not spring up, because there’s nothing to be invested in. This type of person is dangerous, because they would not take the actions necessary to help themselves or others. Although a pure example of such a person does not exist (they would probably be an enshrined Buddhist monk), there are people who approach or attempt to approach this state.
Instead of creating impossible standards that imply non-investment. People should acclimate with the toolset and person they have. A person is not necessarily wrong or dishonest simply because they’re emotive or volatile. Someone who cares deeply about themselves and people will necessarily have to take actions that may be rife with emotions and fervor. Pure calm isn’t a universally ideal state.