Argumentative Essay On Why We Lie

Lying has is a part of our culture, and it seems as if not a day goes by where you do not lie at all. Our world could not exist as it does, if we lived in a society in which lying did not exist. However as humans, we are prone to lying, because of our need to protect ourselves, or the ones close to us, that we turn to lying in order to either make our lives easier or to avoid problems. Humans have adapted over time into societies where lying is an evolutionary advantage, which has made it a part of our DNA. Even children, as soon as they can talk, are using deception as a way to get what they want, and these children have not even had a chance to learn to lie. Lying also continues throughout our entire lives, because it is not something that we can help, it is a part of who we are. When evaluating the argument Stephanie Ericsson makes in “The Ways We Lie”, regarding the reasons we chose to lie, however it is also important to consider extending the argument to include the idea that lying is not only a daily occurrence, it has also become imbedded into human nature.

Lies have been around for as long as people have been. We all lie, whether it is to protect someone we love of to cover up something we don’t want others to know about, it is still lying, and we all do it everyday. Lying has become the new normal for our modern society, so much so, that some of us have lost our morals completely. It is just so much easier and quicker to just lie to someone than to tell the truth, and now you can never tell who is lying to you or who is telling the truth. People use to have morals about lying and many people would feel bad about it and teach their children to never lie, but now in today’s society they just pop out of our mouths like they're nothing. We will never stop lying because it’s easier to live a lie

In 50 Essays: A Portable Anthology, Stephanie Ericsson’s essay “The Ways We Lie” focuses on the many ways society lies today. “We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people’s feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutions” (159). It is common for many people to think of lying exactly how it is on the surface, not telling the truth. Ericsson’s essay forces you to second guess this stereotype and begin to realize that lying is even more prevalent in today’s society than most people might imagine. Looking around today with this mindset would help us make more informed political decisions, better decisions on friends, and better “next-step” positions. Our lives are not horrible places, but better steps for these areas of our lives could improve our lives dramatically.

A lie is considered a false statement given to fool someone. At some point throughout the day everyone will stretch the truth. Are lies just really some version of the truth or are they bold and deliberate? Lying is discussed in-depth in "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson and in the article "Is Lying Bad for Us" by Richard Gunderman. The two articles discuss the types of lies, reasons people lie and the consequences suffered by all. It can be determined after reading the texts that lying causes undue stress and telling the truth is beneficial in more ways than one.

Honesty and deception both play valuable roles in all parts of personal lives and society. Richard Gunderman stated, “To tell the truth is to live authentically and responsibly, to really live.” Living honestly is a way to have less stress to your life, proven by Richard Gunderman in “Is lying bad for us?” However, dishonesty seems to at an all time high with the growth of communication as stated in “On Bullshit” by Harry Frankfurt. In addition, lying can provide incredible short-term benefits discussed by Stephanie Ericsson in “The Ways We Lie.” Gunderman’s claim on authenticity is valid because most cultures see honesty and trust as two of the more lauded values. Telling the truth relieves stress and adds trust. Yet, there is a seemingly

Jazen Folsom Ms. Richardson 22 September 2017 Ericsson “The ways we lie” The reading “The ways we lie” was written by Stephanie Ericsson, (1992). The author communicates information about lying through her personal experiences and experiences from an established source. Who ever knew that they were different types of lies until after reading this essay. The audience of the essay was everyone as she stated “We lie, we all do.”

Everyday humans do many things in everyday life, but did you know that there are more than 25 strange things that people do everyday. One strange thing that humans do everyday is that we prefer one hand over the other, like when you go to pick up a pencil you automatically get it with your dominant hand. Why? We ask that because it is the left side of our brains that control the speech part of our lives. Scientists say that the speech part of the brain is more complex and that is the side that determines our dominant hand. One thing that we do everyday is lie, scientists do not know why we lie but everybody does it. We can lie for many reasons, one being just flat out untruthful because they do not want to face the truth. Many people also

There were multiple things I did wrong, I lied and cheated. I was dishonest to Josh and Hayden. The reason this is a bad thing is that it hurt people I love. Lying will ruin relationships with people who are the closest to you. If lying was a regular thing, life would be difficult. People would have to figure out right from wrong and not even rely on books at that point. To lie is to achieve a purpose that has no beneficial ending. In the end of this grounding, I can definitely assure you I will not be lying again. This was not worth every cent of lying. In my life, I can’t imagine someone doing this to me. If Hayden lied to me, I honestly wouldn’t know because Hayden is a very good liar. I’m just joking, but it wouldn’t want to talk to them or trust them anymore. I couldn’t understand someone close to me, lying. In the end, the biggest person I hurt in the end was me.

“How are you?” What’s your automatic answer? Normally it’s “I’m good” or perhaps, “I’m fine.” How many times have you heard that lie, or even told it yourself? Rarely is “fine” ever used in the correct context. Whenever someone asks how you are, are you truly fine every time it’s asked? Or is something on your mind? Did something rough just happen? Why is it that we feel the need to hide our true feelings behind a lie that nearly everyone knows is rarely true? According to two articles, “On the Art of the Decay of Lying” by Mark Twain, and “Natural Born Liars” by David Livingstone Smith, we have two main reasons for lying. One reason is that it is ingrained in us through our social interactions, and another is that we have evolved to lie, that we’ve adapted so that lying enables us to hide our weakness so that others can’t exploit them. We can believe these lies to protect ourselves or protect others as well.

Thomas Jefferson once said, “He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it easier to do it a second time”. Nobody is perfect, we have all told a lie but was it a lie or a false statement? A lie is viewed as an unacceptable act while a false statement is viewed as the person who stated it just doesn't have the knowledge to know if it's true or not. Kelly McEvers, a NPR reporter, recently didn't use the word “lie” in an article about Trump because she thought it would put too much of her opinion in the article. Kelly was in the right when she didn't use the word lie.

Socrates is a man of great controversy. He has been portrayed as many different personalities such as a sophist to a great philosopher to just a vocal old man. The true nature of Socrates is to be questioned. He spoke his thoughts on life and what his philosophy on life was. A couple arguments that he spoke about really stood out about lying. These arguments had brute force and were made very clear through his dialogue. According to his dialogue, he felt that there were two different types of lies.

All throughout history, human society has told lies. The lies may be intention or non-intention but everyone has told a lie at least once in their lifetime. We learn from an early age of toddler, that lying is bad. We grow older, and learn telling lies only leads to big issues. Teenagers may tell a lie to hide the truth from their parents, a parent may tell a lie to hide the truth from the child. Either way may it be with good intentions or not, lying is bad. The debate remains, why do we still lie even after knowing it is wrong?

White lies are defined as diplomatic or well-intentioned deception. There are many different types of white lies that are told, such as, lies of flattery for example; if someone gives another person a gift and the gift was not what the person wanted, this person would reply “thank you so much! I just love it!” This type of white lie is told because telling someone

Let’s say that, we always hear lies everywhere. Lies can hurt other people, and lies can be a joke to have fun with everyone. Lies can also be a way to glossing over the fact. Lies can protect who are telling the lie. Everyone lies, although the ideas of lying to people are wrong, but people still lie about anything in their life. In this essay, it will talk about which ways people will lie and how they lie.

Studies have showed that 60 percent of people lie every 10 minutes; do you think you can tell when they do? (NBC News) No matter who you are, you have lied at least once in your lifetime, and you may know someone who lies constantly. Wouldn’t be nice to finally be able to catch them in the act? Using little more than a few observations and a bit of thinking, you too may be able to determine who is lying and who is not. Note: This may only apply if you can see or hear the person you are talking to. It can be very difficult to determine if someone is lying through text alone.