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Which character do you trust the most and which do you trust the least?

posted 8 years ago by otter68
28 replies | jump to latest

Which character is the most likely to be honest with you and be the same to your face and behind your back, and which character would you trust the least to be honest with you or expect to betray you?

I'd say Sheldon is the most honest. He has problems lying and is pretty much an open book: what you see is what you get.

Not sure whom I'd trust the least.

Howard has lied to and manipulated Raj in the past and can't stand up for himself, which may lead him to be less than honest if he feels pressured to be so.

Raj has played his own parents against each other.

Bernadette is vindictive and cruel and manipulates people by being mean or faking sadness.

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] blakgard 8 years ago

Problem with Sheldon is that he has a skewed, unrealistic vision of reality. So, I wouldn't take him at his word about things.

I think Leonard is most likely to give it to me straight.

[–] paul-heyes 8 years ago

Sheldon's comments might be extremely skewed, but you can pretty much guarantee they will be honest and consistent. In that sense he's trustworthy; you don't need to worry that he's not saying what he means, or telling other people something different.

I wouldn't take his advice on anything without triple-checking it first. :D

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

paul-heyes wrote:

but you can pretty much guarantee they will be honest and Consistent.

Was he honest with Leonard over the two scientific discoveries that they made together? Was he honest with Leonard over the late DVD.Do you think that he plays fair over the roommate agreement?

[–] otter68 8 years ago

Leonard never asked Sheldon about the DVD, so Sheldon never lied. He did withhold information.

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

otter68 wrote:

so Sheldon never lied.

That is not true.

Sheldon: How about this? I promise I won’t pester you about the DVD. You can defecate in peace. That’s a win for both of us. But, until this matter is resolved, I would like you to wear this sweater. With nothing underneath it.

The matter already has been resolved. There is nothing to resolve. Sheldon lied about that.What I asked was whether or not Sheldon was honest with Leonard over the DVD. There is no way that you can say Sheldon behaved honestly with Leonard. He allowed Leonard to continue to believe that the DVD was late when it was not. And he tortured him with his sweater. He tortured his roommate apparently just because he could. And he had been planning it for years. No, I do not think I can trust Sheldon.

[–] blakgard 8 years ago

Consistent only to his world view, which does not jibe with reality. Most of what he claims are facts are not.

[–] aluminum_foil 8 years ago

Trust most: Amy or Leonard

Trust least: Bernadette or Raj

[–] LiteraryLadyofLothlorien 8 years ago

Most: Bernadette

Least: Leonard.

To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?

[–] Gothish 8 years ago

They have all been proven to be untrustworthy in one way or another, but I think Sheldon is the most upfront and genuine when it comes to his feelings about someone. He is not going to act like he likes you if he doesn't, and anything he says behind your back, he probably has already said to your face.

Everyone else has either lied, cheated, and/or been manipulative at one time or another.

"Two gin and Frescas"
"Shaken, not ridiculed"

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

Gothish wrote:

but I think Sheldon is the most upfront and genuine when it comes to his feelings about someone. He is not going to act like he likes you if he doesn't, and anything he says behind your back, he probably has already said to your face.

Yes, but he treats everyone with contempt, and so it is difficult to know when other feelings would override that.I have no idea what Sheldon is likely to do, and that certainly makes him quite untrustworthy in my eyes.Sheldon did the nastiest thing that I can think of at this moment in the entire series. His "learning moment" with Leonard over the DVD that was not returned. That was vicious, and it has no normal human motivation.Sheldon has twice tried to take total credit for scientific discovery that he made with Leonard. Once, Sheldon had the idea and Leonard designed the experiment that proved it. The other time, Leonard had the idea and Sheldon worked out the mathematics.But Sheldon wanted to take basically complete credit both times. No, I would not trust Sheldon at all.I trust Bernadette because I have seen her come through on a number of occasions. I have not seen Sheldon do that.I would believe that Amy and Raj probably would do the right thing, that I have not seen it.Howard only does the right thing with Bernie sitting on him.I trust Leonard's fundamental honesty and I trust Penny's fundamental good nature and honesty to end up doing the right thing.

[–] paul-heyes 8 years ago

Again you're confusing decency with trustworthiness. Sheldon will ALWAYS believe that his contribution was the only one that mattered; you can trust him to be selfish and egotistical now, as he was before and as he always will be.

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

paul-heyes wrote:

Again you're confusing decency with trustworthiness.

Not a distinction that I would generally make.

you can trust him to be selfish and egotistical now, as he was before and as he always will be.

Trusting someone to be predictable does not cause me to trust them in any other way.Or to say that I trust them.

[–] Rheli 8 years ago

Most: Bernadette -- seems to say what she does and do what she says
Second most: Raj -- he really seems to try
Least: Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Amy or Penny -- all of them are willing to break the rules if they deem it necessary

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

Rheli wrote:

Least: Sheldon . . . all of them are willing to break the rules if they deem it necessary

Sheldon does not recognize any rules except when they benefit him. Leonard, Amy and Penny recognize rules, but may break them when they deem it necessary as you said.Howard certainly plays fast and loose with government property. Beyond that, I am not sure after he got married.I agree with you about Bernadette.

[–] Rheli 8 years ago

Thanks, appreciate the feedback.

I would add that Penny tends to mean well, but lives in the moment and forgets about consequences and can thus break a trust in that way. (Also, her use of alcohol can contribute to that.)

[–] blakgard 8 years ago

Saying what you do and doing what you say does not make you trustworthy. Further, I would consider Bernadette to be the most likely to stab a person in the back, without warning. She is without a doubt the most duplicitous.

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

blakgard wrote:

She is without a doubt the most duplicitous.

Can you give examples outside of work? Bernie seems to feel that she has to protect herself at work, and as other people have pointed out, that can be the case.

[–] otter68 8 years ago

She told a vile lie to Leonard just to win a scavenger hunt.
She ruined one of Howard's comic books and tried to keep it from him.

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

otter68 wrote:

She told a vile lie to Leonard just to win a scavenger hunt.

And she admitted it when it caused a problem.

She ruined one of Howard's comic books and tried to keep it from him.

She replaced the comic book, you turkey.I fail to see how any of that can be described as "duplicitous" except by someone who is straining to find things to use against her.

[–] otter68 8 years ago

she still lied to Leonard. That's an example of duplicitous behavior.
She never told Howard she ruined his comic because
"Well, he's always saying I should be more careful with my curling iron, and it seems like a dangerous precedent to let him think he can be right."

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

otter68 wrote:

she still lied to Leonard. That's an example of duplicitous behavior.

LOL

She never told Howard she ruined his comic because"Well, he's always saying I should be more careful with my curling iron, and it seems like a dangerous precedent to let him think he can be right."

That is correct. She had a perfectly good reason to just replace the comic book and no good reason to tell Howard.Have you noticed how many posters here think that Bernie is the most trustworthy of the characters?Hate on contrarians. They use ridiculous arguments.

[–] otter68 8 years ago

Have you noticed how many posters think she's a B and is duplicitous?
Lying = duplicity.

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

otter68 wrote:

Have you noticed how many posters think she's a B and is duplicitous?

Why, yes. Three posters think that, and three posters think that she's the most trustworthy of the characters. If I have miscounted, please supply the quotes.

Lying = duplicity.

Bernadette seldom lies. It is hardly one of her characteristics.

contrarian Someone who automatically tends to take the opposite point of view from the person to whom they're speaking, or to disagree with society at large out of a sort of knee-jerk reflex. http://urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=contrarian

[–] otter68 8 years ago

it was asked when she was duplicitous. She has been.

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

otter68 wrote:

it was asked when she was duplicitous. She has been.

You gave one minor example that might be categorized that way. Bernie is the opposite of a duplicitous person.

Synonym Study1.Deceit, guile, hypocrisy, duplicity, fraud, trickery refer either to practices designed to mislead or to the qualities that produce those practices. Deceit is the quality that prompts intentional concealment or perversion of truth for the purpose of misleading: honest and without deceit. The quality of guile leads to craftiness in the use of deceit: using guile and trickery to attain one's ends. Hypocrisy is the pretense of possessing qualities of sincerity, goodness, devotion, etc.: It was sheer hypocrisy for him to go to church. Duplicity is the form of deceitfulness that leads one to give two impressions, either or both of which may be false: the duplicity of a spy working for two governments. Fraud refers usually to the practice of subtle deceit or duplicity by which one may derive benefit at another's expense: an advertiser convicted of fraud. Trickery is the quality that leads to the use of tricks and habitual deception: notorious for his trickery in business deals.http://www.dictionary.com/browse/duplicity

I believe that we can find examples in which they have all done similar things, but you single out Bernie.I asked for examples in response to blakgard writing:

She is without a doubt the most duplicitous.

In idiomatic English usage, "duplicitous" refers to a pattern of behavior, not one instance of it.

contrarian Someone who automatically tends to take the opposite point of view from the person to whom they're speaking, or to disagree with society at large out of a sort of knee-jerk reflex. http://urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=contrarian

[–] otter68 8 years ago

The question was asked when Bernadette had been duplicitous. It was not "when have any of the main characters been...."

So I gave two examples of Bernie doing things that fit the definition you gave.

"Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong." J.J. Rousseau

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

otter68 wrote:

So I gave two examples of Bernie doing things that fit the definition you gave.

If you were to actually read what I quoted, you would discover that they don't."Duplicitous" refers to a pattern of behavior, and that is clear in what I quoted.

contrarianSomeone who automatically tends to take the opposite point of view from the person to whom they're speaking, or to disagree with society at large out of a sort of knee-jerk reflex.http:urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=contrarian

It is easy to understand why "contrarians" inspire contempt.

[–] ppllkk 8 years ago

And just for the hell of it:

Synonym Study1.Deceit, guile, hypocrisy, duplicity, fraud, trickery refer either to practices designed to mislead or to the qualities that produce those practices. Deceit is the quality that prompts intentional concealment or perversion of truth for the purpose of misleading: honest and without deceit. The quality of guile leads to craftiness in the use of deceit: using guile and trickery to attain one's ends. Hypocrisy is the pretense of possessing qualities of sincerity, goodness, devotion, etc.: It was sheer hypocrisy for him to go to church. Duplicity is the form of deceitfulness that leads one to give two impressions, either or both of which may be false: the duplicity of a spy working for two governments. Fraud refers usually to the practice of subtle deceit or duplicity by which one may derive benefit at another's expense: an advertiser convicted of fraud. Trickery is the quality that leads to the use of tricks and habitual deception: notorious for his trickery in business deals.http://dictionary.com/browse/duplicity

An educated native speaker of English would be very unlikely to use the word "duplicitous" in the context in which you are using it. It's core meaning is "two-faced."