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Summary Of The Ways We Lie By Stephanie Ericsson

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The mere concept of a compulsive or pathological liar is often repulsive to most of us, but the truth is, many of us aren’t that far from crossing that bridge. In her essay, “The Ways We Lie”, Stephanie Ericsson analyzes not only the many occasions in which we lie, but also the meaning and consequences of those lies. Although Ericsson’s definitions are well articulated, the evidence she employs to support many of her statements lack depth. Throughout her essay, Ericsson fails to provide substantial evidence for the lies that preserve our mental health or even the ones that keep our families safe from harm. According to Ericsson, lies often possess the ability to poison our lives, but what about the lies that save them? Refusing to tell a …show more content…

Instead, she coats her essay in idealism and excludes instances where the truth has had severely detrimental effects. Edward Snowden, an ex-CIA agent who informed the American people of the many mass surveillance and privacy intrusions of their government, was brutally persecuted by the public and had to flee the country for asylum solely for being a beacon of truth. In the section of Ericsson’s essay that analyzes a façade, she describes these false attitudes as “destructive” and only provides one in-depth, negative personal experience. She seeks to imply that we are better and truer to ourselves without these lies, but fails to actually detail how our lies would be impacted without them. By overlooking how many lives would be negatively impacted if we eliminated façades completely, Ericsson veers on dangerous territory of assuming such actions come without consequences. If we stopped adhering to office dress codes simply because they aren’t a completely accurate representation of our personalities, how many of us would be unemployed? In such a situation what becomes more destructive, a façade you put on for 6-8 hours a day or months without a stable income to provide for your

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