Login/Join

Lie To Me

Discussion
Apr 19, 2010
by: npuoy
Channels
Google defines "lying" as "the deliberate act of deviating from the truth", "tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive". Lots of people lie. I lie. You lie. Even Weezy knows "Women Lie, Men Lie". Our parents lie, yet they tell us not to. So why does nearly everyone break the 8th Commandment? 
 It boils down to the shifting sands of the self and trying to look good both to ourselves and others, experts say. http://www.livescience.com/health/060515_why_lie.html 

 


According to Realsimple.com, there are six reasons in which people lie:
1. Lying to save face (Oh I never got the invitation!)
2. Lying to shift blame (My husband never told me you called!)
3. Lying to avoid confrontation (You’re doing a great job, but we can’t afford a housekeeper anymore)
4. Lying to get one's way (I can't come to school; I'm sick.)
5. Lying to be nice (That dress looks sooo good on you!)
6. Lying to make oneself feel good (I'll eat these slices of pizza now and it's okay because I'm going to the gym later.)

  The tendency to tell tales is “a very natural human trait,” explains David L. Smith, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy at the University of New England, in Biddeford, Maine. “It lets you manipulate the way you want to be seen by others.” http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/truth-about-lying-00000000012669/index.html

Robert Feldman at the University of Massachussetts says lying has everything to do with self-esteem. We lie to make ourselves feel better. How do you feel about that?
 

 "People almost lie reflexively," Feldman says. "They don't think about it as part of their normal social discourse." "We're trying not so much to impress other people but to maintain a view of ourselves that is consistent with the way they would like us to be," Feldman said. We want to be agreeable, to make the social situation smoother or easier, and to avoid insulting others through disagreement or discord. http://www.livescience.com/health/060515_why_lie.html


I see truth the psychology of lying in these two scenarios. Next time your human nature forces you to lie, defy it, and say no. Be honest, and tell the truth.