Truth Telling in Today's Society
Truth-telling has become altered in today’s society. In certain situations it is all right to lie or deceive. People have regarded truth-telling as overrated. It is amazing the words we put with the word lying. We call them so many various things such as; exaggeration, little white lies, half truths, deceptions, and fibbing. Lying has become a very complicated topic today. Lying can be used in many different ways such as; to protect the innocent, for tradition, and the esteem of individuals. On the other hand, lying can be used as a tool of deception and manipulation. When used in this manner lying becomes detrimental to an individual and to a society. “We need to sort out what is and what is not morally justifiable, just as we must sort out moral from immoral behavior in politics, science, and religion (qtd. in hooke, 210)”
The witness’ protection program is relied upon by many individuals across the nation to protect their lives against dangerous criminals. In order for this to be successful one must completely change their lifestyles and their identities, basically lie to every individual about their past and future in order to protect themselves. Their whole existence for the time they are in this program in a lie to themselves and all individuals they come in contact with on a daily basis. In bok’s eyes this would be wrong. If we all live by the way she describes lying people we be less reluctant to be a witness to a crime in fear they may be killed.
Tradition. One word which defines all citizens BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!! The tradition of most American children is the belief of Santa Claus. The subjection of a red faced merry man delivering gifts to all of the children in the world in on...
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...r immaturity, and using it to influence their decisions by making them appealing to their peers. Advertisers could hold the responsibility of all of societies smokers’ health in the own hands, yet billboards are posted of lovely ladies and sexy men with carcinogenic sticks beckoning to them, failing to mention the twenty-some years they will be cutting off the ends of their own life with just the lie of how attractive cigarette smoking can be.
Another way lying is morally wrong is in a marriage or a relationship. A husband and wife should always be faithful to one another. Would it be wrong if a spouse cheated and didn’t tell the other? If you were the other spouse would you want to know? When we start decieveing the people we love the most, that is when lying becomes very wrong. If the spouse being cheated on was told by another source about his/her partner
In “The Ways We Lie,” Stephanie Ericsson discusses what she sees as ten types of lies: the white lie, façades, ignoring the plain facts, deflecting, omission, stereotypes and cliches, groupthink, out-and-out lies, dismissal, and delusion. After naming and defining each type she goes on to discuss when they are acceptable or beneficial, and what their negative effects are. Lying has become a part of everyday life and Ericsson wrestles with the justification of that while questioning when all the lies will end.
In “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, the author uses her knowledge to talk about the different ways of lies and how those lies affect the liar, as well as the people who had been told lies. According to the author’s essay, there are 10 types of lies that people encounter every single day: the White Lie, Facades, Ignoring the Plain Facts, Deflecting, Omission, Stereotypes and Cliches, Groupthink, Out-and-Out Lies, Dismissal, and Delusion. Throughout the essay, it is connoted that people are lying in various ways even though they are not intended to. I had been taught that lying is a bad habit. According to Ericsson, there are many types of lie and I did three of them in my life: the White Lie, Omission, and Out-and-Out Lies; however, I can defend my lies for good purposes.
You come through the door and you see that look in their eyes, they know. All this time, all those lies; all of it just to make sure that they didn’t have to know, all so they didn’t get that look in their eyes. Now you enter further into the room and there’s no stopping the inevitable, one fact remained. You lied. For whatever reason, whatever excuse you hoped was logical enough in your mind so that it didn’t seem as wrong as it truly was, that doesn’t matter. Because the motives and the analyzing were and are in the end moot points, as it is said, through it all “the end does not justify the means”, Eluki bes Shahar. Like it or not, that’s what lying is, a means to an end.
Viorst opens her article by explaining social lies. She describes these as lies to avoid hurt, such as lying to a cousin by pretending to enjoy dinner. Judith believes they are necessary and acceptable; without them, relationships would be icky and short. By being honest and not telling white lies a person can come off harsh. Furthermore, Viorst thinks that not telling social lies is arrogant.
In simple terms, truth telling is about being honest with patients. This means telling patients about their diagnoses, treatments and other medical information completely. Ideally health professionals would always be able to do so, but there are times where it may be best to be untruthful rather. In some cultures for instance, serious diagnoses are typically hidden from patients because of how damaging they can be to patients. Complicating this, untruthfulness comes in various degrees (Lo, 1995), so doctors must discern the level of untruthfulness appropriate for a given situation.
Truth or lies? Having people to trust is really difficult, not knowing whether a person is lying or actually telling the truth. How do you know is a person is lying? Is the bigger question. In this essay I will talk about many different ways about how spot a liar or a truthful person. I have listen to two different Ted talks about how to spot a liar and the future of lying. Many of us has said a lie or told a lie, we all had some kind of guilt in this situation. We all know a fact that we had said leis to our parents or even our closest friend. Everyone who were in this situation has fallen for a lie and everyone believes it, not knowing if maybe they are saying the truth or maybe it’s just a lie and just goes along with it. Half of us have heard or read a short article about small little things how to spot a liar, the most common people have heard is “ if the person's eye is twitching he is a lying” or “ you flare your nostrils I know you're lying”.
Some people think lying is okay, others think it’s not. However, those who think all lying is not okay are being hypocritical. Everyone has lied at least once in their life. Lies in general are a part of daily life. Many people lie for various reasons.One of the most common reasons is to protect someone. There are also lies used to cause harm and lies in the interest of the liar. All in all, many people agree that lying is sometimes acceptable when protecting someone from emotional, physical, and mental harm.
In response to the first question, most interviewees admitted to lying. For those that did not explicitly admit to lying, such as one salesperson, they alluded to the fact that their statements may be interpreted as lying. When asked what one would lie about to their respective counterparts, there was a similar theme amongst parents, children, and people in relationships. The parents admitted to lying for their children’s own good, and the children admitted lying to avoid punishment from their parents. People in relationships admitted to inconsequential lies that did not harm their partner at all. When asked “When is it allowed to lie?”, the majority of our interviewees brought up the idea of lying when it does not do any harm. When asked about things they did not want to know the truth about and falsehoods that people still believe in, the children across cultures had a difficult time
This essay is about why lying is always wrong. Lying could be bad depending on the situation but sometimes telling a “white” lie could save a person from getting his feelings hurt. A lie is giving false information while believing it to be untrue, intending to deceive by doing so. A lie has three essentials features: A lie communicates some false information, the liar intends to deceive or mislead, and the liar believes that what they are saying is not true. Lying is bad because it treats those who are lied to as a mean to achieve the liar’s purpose, rather than a valuable end in them.
Looking back at the definition, does it mean that a lie can be considered as deceiving and despicable only if it is intentionally used to prevaricate others? Most likely, yes, depending on how people define “falsehood” and “intention”. So in which case is lying acceptable? The answer is as long as a statement does not fall into any of the two categories above, it should not be considered as a harmful lie. These types of lies come in a variety of names: bluffing, butler lie, deflecting, exaggeration, etc since they carry distinct connotations. They occur plentiful in our daily life and since we utilize them unconsciously, they contribute chiefly to the 200 average lies told per day. We use them frequently because we believe that these lies cause little or no harm to other people. These lies serve miscellaneous purposes: to please, to avoid hurting feeling; to shun complications, to prevent greater consequences,… An prime example of this can be as simple as: “Hey, how are you doing?” and followed by a response accordingly “I’m good. Thank you”. Even if a person just went through a really crappy day, he is likely to response similarly in order to avoid further explanations. Or when your wife asks “Do I look fat in this dress?” then the answer is always “No”, since we do not want to hurt to feelings of our beloved ones with the truth. Or when your child asks “Mommy where do I come from?”, we would say “An egret brought you here”
I remember my friend lying to me about how he got a black eye. He told me his brother punched him playing around but the truth was that he had fought with someone from another school. He had created a new truth. Because I did not know the other person he got in a fight with, I could only rely on his word. Exclusive information leads to greater power and more attention. There are many who live a life full of lies, there are some who are able to justify their lies, even some that protect their lies; however, at the end of the day it costs them their lifestyle and peace. So, if you want most people to tell you the truth, it is important to encourage an atmosphere to tell the truth. If you are listening to a confession, that may be a very important truth. It is for this reason, forgiveness is critical to society. Although some people may still lie and not learn from their mistakes. However, there are many cases where lying is not inhibited again and the individual breaks of that habit and
One reason why lying is sometimes acceptable is because it can protect others. In article 3 it states, “ ...we shouldn’t manipulate the truth except for rare times--if you’re hiding Anne Frank in your attic because her life is in danger. This is important because lying can be considered appropriate in the case of protecting someone’s life. This is also important because telling the truth can sometimes be a good deed for society. In article 3 it states, “ Many people think they tell the truth, but they don’t because they withhold information.” This demonstrates that they don’t tell the entire truth because they are trying to protect themselves. This also expresses that people manipulate information from the truth for themselves. In conclusion people think they are saying the truth but they manipulate the truth.
While others think lying is bad. “In the article,”It’s the truth: Americans conflicted about lying it states,”nearly two thirds of the american agree that lying is bad.” It also mentions, sixty five percent said lying was ok and fifty two percent said lying was never justified. It has been proven that the only reason why many people think that lying is good is when they have been in the position of trying to protect someone from the truth. While if they have never been in the position where they are being told a lie and if they have then they will think lying is bad. Even Though many people don’t like to lie they think white lies are acceptable. Like for example to inspire young children to have a bigger imagination. Like for instance to believe in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy. Several reasons have been argued as to why lying may be good or bad. As stated lying is ONLY good in the circumstances of protecting someone’s feelings. As already explained from above that lying is bad because you lose people’s trust. For instance lying could also be bad when you lie to try and not take the blame for what you have done. After reviewing this evidence from what was found an individual who runs into this situation they should think twice the next time they choose to
Henry Louis Mencken said, “It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.” Under most circumstances people in the world today would lie before they tell the true. I believe people would rather stretch the truth, than be honest with themselves and with others. Judith Ortiz Cofer, Nora Ephron, and Eric Schlosser, demonstrate honesty throughout their essays.
Secondly, it is okay to be untruthful if you are trying to protect people. In certain situations, it is safer, and more practical for you to tell a lie rather than putting a loved one in jeopardy. To illustrate you may be in a situation where you are in a serious or dangerous situation, and you do not what anyone else involved, to keep them safe. For example, if you are getting held up for ransom, would you tell the truth to a loved one and get them involved, or lie and keep them safe? The obvious answer is to keep them safe at all costs, even if it means lying. Also, you do not want to put someone in harm’s way, so it would be ...