is a proposition that is intriguing to me. I’m going to look closely at it and try to come up with some answers.
[This post was inspired by my WordPress friend’s post The Shape of Discord.]
To begin, understand that I take an evolutionary and Freudian position on human nature and behavior.
Benefits
of lying can be substantial. Some are:
- To gain an advantage
- To get something (profit)
- To protect myself or others
- To feel better
- To bolster self-esteem
- To impress someone
- To avoid negative consequences
- To avoid humiliation
- To avoid conflict
- To be nice
- To distract or displace
- To deflect blame
- To hurt someone
Those thirteen motivations can be put into categories: pro-social and anti-social; self-serving and other-serving. However, it’s complicated because some of the reasons can serve both the self and the other. Furthermore, it could be argued that all the motivations are pro-social. Because to serve the self is not mutually exclusive to serving another. Moreover, to serving the best interests of the group (= One’s tribe).
Mechanisms
of lying are many, wide ranging, and common. Most involve deception. Some are:
- Language / words
- Clothes
- Fashion
- Body image
- Possessions
- Habitat
- Habits
- Consumption
The mechanisms and methods all serve a reason, or reasons. Those listed above. In a nutshell – lying serves the preservation of self and others. Albeit at, sometimes, a cost to another or others. Paradoxically, sometimes to a cost to one’s self.
Costs
can be great. Some are:
- Loss of freedom (jail / prison)
- Loss of life (execution)
- Loss of money (means of support)
- Loss of job (means of support)
- Loss of shelter (means of safety)
- Loss of respect (humiliation)
- Loss of love (self respect)
Truth
is not necessarily the opposite of a lie. It depends on who decides. In other words – on the context and nuance of the story being told. In who’s service is the tale being told?
This post has now fizzled out. zzz …
“I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die.” J. Cash (Not true.)
“Even the president of the United States has to stand naked.” B. Dylan (True, but; not the artist’s real name.)
“I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” B. Clinton (True? Not True? It depends.)
