You say people almost always know what they *should* do, but that “almost” isn’t as common as we would like to think. Sometimes a slight misgiving in the back of their head that would otherwise get ignored can come to the forefront when discussed with friends or family and a total clusterf%$# can be mostly avoided.

Side effects of being not a jerk: People talk to you and aren’t afraid to tell you things about themselves that are maybe shameful or embarrassing or that don’t make sense, and a feeling of sadness as you see others fuck up, but guess what, THEY DO IT ANYWAY.

This is why professional psychology exists. You can’t just tell someone what their problem is and expect that to fix anything. It doesn’t. Blunt honesty has more to do with the speaker’s egotistical need to be right than with the best interest of the recipient.

People almost always know what they *should* do. The reason they do something different is where the fascinating and complicated machinery of their personal psychology steps in. And this machinery doesn’t necessarily make choices based on what’s most logical. Ignoring it is stupid – it’s far more powerful than your opinions.

Also, be careful to not irrationally conflate shoving your opinion down people’s throats with being more trustworthy. I can’t prove it but I would guess people conceal things from you in order to avoid your know it all lectures, and in this sense they are demonstrating that they trust you less (ie, they don’t trust you with their vulnerable feelings). Your *stated opinions* might be 100% trustworthy, but you as a person are not.