Why do people lie

All situations are hypothetical.

At the moment one decides to tell the truth (as much as one possesses of it) or not (actually less than one possesses, or from a different perspective), the situation becomes more hypothetical.

Personally, I'm ghastly at recounting outright counter-intuitive (my intuition as reference, of course) statements. On the other hand, and as those of you who know me can bear witness, I'm rather a word-smith.

When in circumstances where the truth (rather as much of that as I possess) would be :huh: inconvenient, I prefer just to 'mislead by semantics'.

In the case of the Jews, I would probably have said : "I am hiding no Jews in my house." They may very well be there, yet 'they' are the ones hiding, not I. -- semantics -- On the other hand, should they be discovered and I get shot, I could not say that would be any worse of a disaster than a deceitful attempt to mislead Nazi agents.

It is much easier in the case of the pitifully grotesque baby. In that case, possible responses could include : "Oh, but I've never seen anything like him !" or, "He's an absolute wonder [that any thing like that could be alive] !"

:blush:

But all that aside, we all 'lie' in one way or another, usually to ourselves, for we all have that crazy addiction to "sense". We want the world to make it (sense, that is), and it doesn't always. We want our desires to be realised with the least effort possible. We want to avoid trouble. We are also self-indulgent and lazy. Now, given all that, people lie in order to attempt to bring others around to see the world in a way that is more comfortable to the person lying. It is a fragile technique, but the only one available to the majority of us these days.

There, how's that for a lie ? In all honesty, I have no clue why we do it ...

I would be lying if I said that I have never lied. Why did I lie on occasions? Often it was due to my fear of the repercussions if the truth was known. This was the main reason for me having lied as a child. Looking back, it was clear that in fact, the repercussions from the lies that I told were actually far worse than if the truth had been told in the first place.

I find now that lying is quite pointless. I hear lying everyday at work whether it be from my line manager about the functioning of our department or from colleagues telling patients that having a blood test or placing an intravenous catheter amounts to a "sharp scratch". This perspective has, I suppose, been cultured over time and has been driven by events within the society in which I live.

I can fully appreciate the paternalistic justification for some mistruths as practised in some cultures, I can also fully appreciate the lifesaving lie example of the Jews in NAZI Germany. The bare-faced cheeky lie that I think was being referred to at the beginning of this topic only highlights the insecurity of the person speaking it. Should you challenge the person? I would say in the vast proportion of cases, yes, otherwise you are simply perpetuating and condoning it. It is important however to be objective and to think through the repercussions before deciding on a response as it would be wrong to exacerbate the harm done.

Rated R - Anyone under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Br. John wrote: Rated R - Anyone under 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Warning: Spoiler!

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B. Kliban

Couldn't this étiquette be understood, according to social norms, as an invitation to lie ? Would not an invitation to lying consist in part of the lie ? As such, when does a lie begin, and when does it end ? If there are reasons (enticements, gains or recriminations) to lie, then by whom begins the lie, with the liar, the person or institution lied to (grounds for the lie), and/or the deceived/discoverer of the lie (result or consequences of the lie) ?

What should be the truth/falsehood ratio for a particular speech act or contra-normative action to be considered a lie ? What is the difference between lying and 'just being wrong' ? (<- be careful, this last question is much less transparent than it seems !)

Alexandre, in my mind the only difference between lying and being wrong is one of knowledge. If you know the truth, yet speak the opposite, it would be a lie. On the other hand, if you honestly didn't know the truth, it would be that you are simply wrong. If it were common knowledge that the sky was pink, and yet I said the sky was blue, that would be a lie (a rather juvenile and ostentatious example, but the concept is there). Again, on the other hand, if I said that the light of a star that you see at night comes from something that technically doesn't exist (theory of relativity and the relation of the speed of light to distance), and you disagree, saying that the stars you see at night exist as they are when you see them, it wouldn't be a lie, because that person doesn't know or understand the nature of the speed of light as it relates to distance.

I have avoided this topic because I amnot proud of the fact that I have lied...but not really.
You see I tell the truth, but in a way that people think I am being sarcastic or humourous. the words ar e the truth, but the tone is a lie. The reason for this is simple I don't lie...it is wrong!
but the discomfort of admitting to some things causes me to present it in such a way that no one would believe the truth.
Using Akkarin's example I would say to the SS...

" Of course I have jews hiding in my basement I have 2 families of them, they were upstairs for tea just before you got here"

said laughingly,followed by rolling eyes and offering to open the basement door.

ok... the SS probably wouldn't buy that, but that is my technique.

Lying is a human response, we learn it as children to avoid the unpleasant consiquences of telling the truth...a time out, a spanking, or being scolded because we have been rude.

Kimla Daalm wrote: I have avoided this topic because I amnot proud of the fact that I have lied...but not really.
You see I tell the truth, but in a way that people think I am being sarcastic or humourous. the words ar e the truth, but the tone is a lie. The reason for this is simple I don't lie...it is wrong!
but the discomfort of admitting to some things causes me to present it in such a way that no one would believe the truth.
Using Akkarin's example I would say to the SS...

" Of course I have jews hiding in my basement I have 2 families of them, they were upstairs for tea just before you got here"

said laughingly,followed by rolling eyes and offering to open the basement door.

ok... the SS probably wouldn't buy that, but that is my technique.

Lying is a human response, we learn it as children to avoid the unpleasant consiquences of telling the truth...a time out, a spanking, or being scolded because we have been rude.

That is an example of a half truth. Yes you are telling the truth but not in a way that is meant to be believed

You words aren't lying but your tone is

Lying is a deception and tricking them through the way in which you talk is just another form of deception, albeit subtler

We lie because we are always afraid to tell the truth. We lie because we are evil, bad and brutal. We always can't stand condemnation from our fellow human being. I cam across an interesting topic that will help readers understand more on this topic-http://www.worldtransformation.com/why-do-people-lie/