What do you say when someone asks you a question, expecting a certain answer? For example, a mother walked up to Hector, Phil, and me in the Student Center and asked us how well we felt her son would fit in at MIT. She described her son as “not very social” and was worried that he would not find friends here and thus would stay in his room a lot. What she wants us to say is “oh actually you have nothing to worry about, this is a great place, your son will do just great” The reality is that her son would probably stay in his room and play computer games all the time. So do we, as complete strangers, placate her and give her the answer that she wants to hear, leaving her feeling happy? Or do we, as complete strangers, tell her the truth and leave her feeling depressed?

I feel bad making anyone depressed, especially if that depression is caused by something I said. But then do I lie to her, settling her fears, only for her son to come to MIT and be anti-social? Am I prepared to accept those ramifications? I don’t feel like it’s really my place as a complete stranger to even answer this woman’s question. And she obviously WANTS me to tell her “no no, everything will be okay.”

So in situations like this, do we force feed her what she wants to hear? Or do we tell it like it is?