What are lies? A lie is defined as follows: To make a statement that one knows to be false, especially with the intent to deceive. There are several ways that lies are told for instance, there are white lies, lies of omission, bold faced lies, and lies of exaggeration. No matter what type of lie that one chooses to tell many people believe that lies do more harm than good.
There comes a time in every persons life where they feel a burning sensation to lie, but is it worth it? Don’t they feel the shame and the guilt of that lie? On average, people lie between ten to two hundred times a day. But doesn't all of that lying come with a lot of conflict and trouble? The more that you lie the more conflict arises by avoiding truth then if it were to be faced head-on.
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.
“The truth is always an insult or a joke, lies are generally tastier. We love them. The nature of lies is to please. Truth has no concern for anyone's comfort” Katherine Dunn perfectly describes what attracts us to lies from a quote in her book Geek Love. Most people lie to help themselves make it through day to day life. If people lie all the time, can all that lying really have an immense effect? Delays for telling the truth is not always a bad thing.While some lies are more helpful to some people more than others. Lies can make people seem untrustworthy, although lies help protect innocence, maintain self-esteem, and prevent harm from yourself or others.
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
Growing up, my mom always taught me to always tell the truth, one of the first times that I can remember this was really stressed to me is when I was just a young boy. At the time I was a trouble maker and would always altercate the truth to save myself from getting in trouble. I thought that this was the most ingenious thing because I could get away with anything by just telling these little “white lies”. In history these small lies can make huge impacts on the path that we take to move forward. For example, a native American figure in history that went by the name Acorn Whistler victimized others by lying and finally fell victim to it himself. Now Is lying just something we as humans do to get what we want or is there a deeper ethos behind
As we all know, lying is a constant part of many people’s lives, whether they realize it or not. Now and then, we’ve all lied to our parents about our homework being completed. (Even though your homework is not done because playing video games or texting your friends is more interesting.) Honestly, lot’s of us have told a lot of white lies or maybe even a whopper of a lie, and we all have varied views on when we should or shouldn 't lie. Such as Brad Blanton, an author of a book about lying and the article, “Honestly, Tell the Truth” who believes in the concept of radical honesty: telling the truth at all times. (excluding a matter of life or death) By cutting out the white lies we tell throughout the course of our lives, there will be less lies to, as Blanton states “unnecessarily complicate our lives.” I agree with Blanton and his opinion that we honestly need to tell the truth and that if we cut out most if the lies we tell, our lives will be free of the aftermath of a lie: damaged relationships and unnecessary amounts of stress. I believe that lying is burdening to the liar who usually fights a losing battle, for he will most likely be found out. I also believe that if we excessively lie, this pattern will become a habit and a problem that will be hard to get rid of in the future. I consider lying to be harmful and damaging to relationships and to negatively affect your character and lower your moral standards. Everyone has lied occasionally, if not frequently, but if
Lying is known as a bad thing, but sometimes it can be used for good. Dishonesty just depends on how you utilize it. In the story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain you will see lying happening very often. When Huckleberry Finn lies it is usually for a good purpose. While the king and duke use it for more greedy reasons.
Benjamin Franklin’s book, Poor Richard’s Almanac, is full of advice. One of those quotes was “A lie stands on one leg, truth on two.”. This is a very wise saying and offers the reader excellent advice about lying.
Lying could be both bad or good, but it depends on the reason. Lying is often used with trying to stay alive. For example, in Night, an inmate told both Elie and his father to lie about their ages, in the text it says, ¨´Hey, kid, how old are you?´ The man interrogating me was an inmate. I could not see his face, but his voice was weary and warm. ´Fifteen.´ ´No. You're eighteen´ ´But I'm not,´ I said. ´I´m fifteen.´ ´Fool. Listen to what I say.´...´ I'm fifty.´ ´No.´ The man now sounded angry. ´Not fifty. You're forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty´¨(Wiesel 30). This shows that they had to lie or else they may not have even been able to work in the concentration camps that they were
The article “Brad Blanton:Honestly,Tell the Truth” states”It keeps you locked in the jail of your own mind. You have to remember what you told each person. You have to think about what the person's reaction might be, and you start manipulating information to control the outcome”. I disagree because feeling guilty is not as bad as both people being hurt.Also, memorizing details of a lie could easily be avoided by keeping the lie simple. The article “Rejecting All Lies:Immanuel Kant” states “ A lie, even if it does not wrong any particular individual,always harms mankind individually.”. Some use lying as a way to get out of a situation instead of a tool of protection. The world is not getting affected by lying but how people are using it. Many do not think that lying is tainting the world but that simply is not
Lying requires a lot more brain power and demands a flawless plan to go about telling it. Keeping the story constant is undoubtedly necessary to keep the lie undetected. Telling a faulty lie for your own sake may change the way others view you, and telling a flawed lie for the sake of a loved one may very well change the way people see them. In a study conducted by Michael Lewis in Is Your Child Lying To You? That's Good" by Alex Stone, 2-4-year-old children were asked to keep their eyes closed while an adult left them in the room with a toy. The vast majority of the young children told a lie to the adult with their parents watching. The fabricated statement is a significant risk
We have all heard the expression “the ends justify the means”. What does this expression mean to you? Are there circumstances when this is true? If so, identify under what circumstances this is acceptable. When, if ever, is it permissible to lie? Is lying just as reprehensible as a physical act (such as violence) if the ends result in pain on a psychological or emotional level? Is there such a thing as a “little white lie”? When does the principle of non-maleficence apply?
Lies are permissible when told under the right consequences. There’s a time and a place for everything, even lies. If you lie about something that will not have a negative impact on another person or thing then it is okay to lie. Other than telling a “little white lie” is never acceptable to misrepresent
Lying the one form of communication that is the untruth expressed to be the truth. Immanuel Kant states that lying is morally wrong in all possible ways. His hatred for lying has made him “just assumed that anyone who lied would be operating with a maxim like this: tell a lie so as to gain some benefit.”(Landau,pp.171) This is true for a vast number of people, they will lie in order to gain a certain benefit from the lie rather than the truth.It is similar to if you play a game of truth or dare, some rather pick a dare because it would release them from having to tell the truth. However, those who do pick truth still have a chance to lie to cover up the absolute truth.People lie in order to cover who they truly are. Even if you lie to benefit someone or something else, it would not matter to Kant because he does not care for the consequences. If you lie but have a good intention it is not the same for Kant, he would argue that you still lied no matter the consequence that a lie is a lie. “ While lying, we accuse others for not being transparent. While being hypocrites ourselves, we expect others to be sincere.” (Dehghani,Ethics) We know how it feels to be lied to by a person, so in order to not have the feeling returned, we hope the person will be truthful. We rather be surrounded by truthful people constantly despite all the lies that some people tell. No