We are all encouraged at an early age to tell the truth. We can better our lives with this single rule, as well as maintain a trustworthy image. However deception and lies creep into our lives constantly. Deception has been called a terrible, abominable thing that we as humans do. But deception is only regarded in that single sense. However, there is always two sides to a story. Deception, defined in the English language, is the act of failing to admit that something is true. This knowledge is installed into many children at a very young age. People are told time and time again to not be untruthful. Yet this simple rule is broken so much that a man could not count the number of lies told by the human race in one lifetime. So, the question is
I’m saying that it is acceptable to use rather than forbidden. People cannot forget that when used in a bigger sense the outcomes can be horrendous. If people lied all of the time then the world as we know it would probably fall into chaos. The inability to trust your fellow man is huge. Not having trust doesn’t help a person in any way possible. Think of how exceedingly more difficult the world would be if nobody could trust one another. Picture golem from lord of the rings, now you have just imagined almost the entire population if this were to happen. The world goes on with trust. Whether it’s something as small as telling someone they actually have a stain on their shirt, to as big as admitting a huge fault. The reason we teach children that deception and lies are wrong lies with the fact that truth keeps us sane. The more we limit the lies told small or big it makes life that much better. A personal example of why deception is bad comes from when I was thirteen. My friend Mason and I were hanging out at his house during a snowy day in December. We were outside sledding and having a blast, but then his little sister came over to us and wanted in on our fun. So, we said sure and thought of some way to mess with her, simply because we thought it would be funny. We had just made this ramp in the snow that was really big, and neither of us wanted to test it out. Thinking it would be funny to see his sister fly through the air and scream we decided to tell her to go straight down the hill on the ramp. We grabbed some Pam from the kitchen cabinet and sprayed the bottom of her sled with it. She didn’t know there was a ramp and asked us if it was safe to go down with the Pam on her board. We resounded with a strong, “Yeah it’s fine, and we have done this hundreds of times.” With a smile that was soon to fade, she went don’t the slope like a bullet. We were dying of laughter until we
Richard Gunderman asks the question, "Isn 't there something inherently wrong with lying, and “in his article” Is Lying Bad for Us?" Similarly, Stephanie Ericsson states, "Sure I lie, but it doesn 't hurt anything. Or does it?" in her essay, "The Ways We Lie.” Both Gunderman and Ericsson hold strong opinions in regards to lying and they appeal to their audience by incorporating personal experiences as well as references to answer the questions that so many long to confirm.
In many cultures, deception does not directly imply evil, but a useful tool that can solve problems quickly. For kind purposes, parents use deception to advise, teach and help their children to have a better lives. While for others, deception is for selfish reasons. Throughout the Joy Luck Club, many complain about being victims of deception, but they too are deceiving others. It is a skill passed down from generation to generation.
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.
Macbeth uses deception and lies to become king from killing Duncan to killing his “friend” Banquo. Lady Macbeth is not much better. She also deceives Duncan when he comes to stay in their castle. She later tries self-deception to rid her of some of the heavy guilt she is feeling. The witches use deception with Macbeth, toying with his life. Their false prophecies eventually leave Macbeth unprepared and lead to his downfall. While many different strategies are used in this play by Shakespeare to get Macbeth the kingship, deceit is the most prominent and important in the entire play.
Telling the truth can have some consequences, but a lie can cause more damage in a relationship once it has been figured out. People believe that by just lying, a problem is solved, but problems start when lies are told. Lying destroys relationships and truth builds honest relationships which, can last forever. In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easygoing. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one, then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. Being truthful
When confronted with a problem, why does the human brain default to lying? Dishonesty is never a solution, although it may seem like the best option in the spur of a moment. My grandma always gave the example of her youth: she avoided and deceived her friend’s sister because the little girl riled everyone. Come to find out, the sister passed the following month due to an illness. I could never imagine the guilt she experienced. Nevertheless, everyone has been deceitful before and many characters were in the tragedy, The Crucible, by playwright Arthur Miller. Reasons for lying are understandable, but most people will admit that mendacity has only caused pain. Lying’s outcome is never positive: it may seem like a good option, for falsehood can save a person’s life, benefit someone, and it eases stress, but these are all transitory.
Trickery and deception has been around since the dawn of human society. The majority of humans have used a form of trickery and deception once in their lives. It can be something as simple as tricking your parents you are sick to skip school to deceiving you someone into thinking another person is betraying them. Trickery and deception can be used for good and evil, depending on how it is used. Trickery and deception is a major theme in the play Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. Trickery and deception were used for both good and evil, but in the end it had led to love and romance betwixt characters in the play, including two of which did not believe in marriage to begin with.
The art of deception is known to lie in various places: superheroes, lies, appearances, and within one's self. It is very well known by everyone. It holds a common ground for a complex characters, and an unknown yet unnecessary piecework for characters of a simple, static nature. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is about a small girl named Scout who finds herself in the midst of racism and deception. The novel as well as reality is sporadic about usage of deception. A certain contradistinction defines the collective population. Therefore, synchronization of people is uncommon. This disarray of people is played in a convincing portrayal of characters in the novel. Harper Lee's characters, who are both fallacious in appearance or have a forthright portrayal, reveal her contemplation of deception.
Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, analyzes and reflects on how lying has simply become the norm in our society. We all lie, there is not one person in the world that does not lie. Most people lie because they are afraid of telling the truth, however what they do not know is telling a lie can lead them in the wrong direction because many things can happen when lying to a person. The person can find out when everything unravels that person will not have trust in you and you would be known as a liar. To every action there is a consequence, so why not deal with just one consequence when telling the
Lying is an issue that has been debated on for a long time. Some people believe that lying is sometimes ok in certain circumstances. Some people believe lying is always acceptable. In contrast, some believe lying is always bad. Keeping all other’s opinions in mind, I believe that lying is a deficient way of solving problems and is a bad thing. I claim that only certain situations allow the usage of lies and that otherwise, lying is bad. Dishonesty is bad because it makes it harder to serve justice, harms the liar individually, and messes up records. Furthermore, it should only be said to protect someone from grave danger.
Healthcare professions have codes of conduct and ethics that address the issue of honesty and trust in relation to patient encounters yet truth-telling (or being honest) versus deception (or being dishonest) has been identified as an ethical issue in hospitals, particularly about diagnosis and prognosis disclosures. Dossa (2010) defines being honest or telling the truth as relating the facts as one knows them. Furthermore, Dossa (2010) states that deception can be an act of dishonesty but also can be without lies. In other words, forms of deception include not giving any information, not giving information of the truth, withholding information, selecting what information to give and not give, and giving vague information.
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
I do not know of anyone who wants to be known as Pinocchio, the wooden boy who lies and in a result, makes his nose grow bigger. As an old proverb says, honesty is the best policy. I agree with being honest at all times. First, telling the truth to me, is always the right thing. When I catch someone in a lie, I just think to myself, what has come up of this world? A person’s truths and lies prove who that person is, and what that person is capable of. Second, people can earn a great deal of respect and trust from telling the truth. Now, people trust their “gut feeling”, but someone’s “gut feeling” should always be truthful. Respect is something that is earned, and at sometimes, given to people who do the things that they are supposed to do for themselves and for others. Last, most people were taught to tell the truth at a very young age. A truth is
The two plays deal with similar issues of deception and hypocrisy present in the society and how people wear masks in order to conform to the social norms of their respective societies. Both the authors, Henrik Ibsen and Moliere have made effective use of ‘deception’ in order to bring their ideas and views through to their audience.’ Ghosts’ is a perfect example of a realistic play which attacks the hypocrisy present in the society and in its value systems. Ibsen therefore was known as the father of modern theatre. Tartuffe was written by Moliere in the age of reason. During this period writers usually wrote in a common genre which was known as the comedy of manners. As a form of satire, the genre of comedy was aimed at ridiculing human vices and follies in order to bring about a change in the society.