Haldimand "What Happens when You Lie?"

What Happens when you Lie?

Well I think that if you ask "10" people you will get "10" different answers.

I found this exercise very educational and enjoyable. I went to Wikipedia for a few answers. This is what I found;

"Propaganda"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Propaganda is the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense presents information in order to influence its audience.

Propaganda often presents facts selectively (thus lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or gives loaded messages in order to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political agenda.

"Bullshit"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bullshit (also bullcrap, bullplop, horseshit, bullbutter) is a common English expletive. It may be shortened to "bull" or the euphemism B.S. The term is common in American English. In British English, bollocks is a comparable expletive, although bullshit is now a commonly used expletive in British English as well.

As with many expletives, it can be used as an interjection (or in many other parts of speech) and can carry a wide variety of meanings. Most commonly, it is used in connection with incorrect, misleading, or false language and statements. While the word is generally used in a deprecating sense, it may imply a measure of respect for language skills, or frivolity, among various other benign usages.

In popular philosophy, Harry Frankfurt among others described the word bullshit as related to but distinct from lying

"Lies "

The various types of lies include the following:

"Fabrication"

A fabrication is a lie told when someone submits a statement as truth, without knowing for certain whether or not it actually is true. Although the statement may be possible or plausible, it is not based on fact. Rather, it is something made up, or it is a misrepresentation of the truth. Examples of fabrication: "The dog ate my homework", or "I did unplug the iron".

"Bold-faced lie"

A bold-faced (often also referred to as bare-faced or bald-faced but have slightly different meanings) lie is one which is told when it is obvious to all concerned that it is a lie. For example, a child who has chocolate all around his mouth and denies that he has eaten any chocolate is a bold-faced liar.

"Lying by omission"

One lies by omission by omitting an important fact, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions. A husband may tell his wife he was out at a store, which is true, but lie by omitting the fact that he also visited his mistress, although it is disputable whether or not this is actually a lie. In most cases, the person has not directly denied a truth, but merely omitted some part of what transpired.

"Lie-to-children"

A lie-to-children is a lie, often a platitude which may use euphemism(s), which is told to make an adult subject acceptable to children. A common example is "The stork brought you" (in reference to childbirth).

"White lie"

A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered, and offers some benefit to the liar, the hearer, or both. White lies are often used to avoid offense, such as complimenting something one finds unattractive. In this case, the lie is told to avoid the harmful realistic implications of the truth. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and cannot be clearly separated from other lies with any authority.

"Noble lie"

A noble lie is one which would normally cause discord if it were uncovered, but which offers some benefit to the liar and assists in an orderly society, therefore potentially beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain law, order and safety. A noble lie usually has the effect of helping an elite maintain power.

"Bluffing"

Pretending to have a capability or intention which one does not actually possess. Bluffing is an act of deception which is rarely seen as immoral, because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards to those which he really holds, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, is not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted and indeed expected as a tactic.

"Misleading/Dissembling"

A misleading statement is one where there is no outright lie, but there still remains the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth. "Dissembling" likewise implies presenting facts in a way that is literally true, but intentionally misleading.

You can read more at; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie

We’ve all heard these famous quotes; (I am sure there are more, so if you know one please post away!)

“If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything”

“If you tell the truth it will set you free”

“Once you tell a lie, you have to lie to cover up that lie, and eventually you believe your lie to be the truth” (I like that one the best because my mother used to tell me this one)

“Liar, liar, pants on fire”

And if you are religious, “Lie and you will go straight to Hell”

So what happens when one tells a lie? Well I believe that it all depends on the type of Lie! (Wow I can't believe that I said that!)

I recently had a conversation with our 5 year old grand daughter about her first loose tooth, and I told her to not forget to put her tooth under her pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Was this a Lie? Well according to Wikipedia it is a "Lie-to-children" lie, which is much different then say a "bold face" lie.

It is when a lie is told intentionally to the masses is where I have a very serious problem, especially when it is directed at someone I care about.

Unfortunately these types of lies do have their purpose: “to discredit an individual”, "to take someone down", "to make me feel good". I can tell you from my personal experience, it doesn’t feel very good when this happens to you!

So is it okay to Lie? Does an apology after a Lie make it all better? Why do we get so upset when someone tells a Lie about someone we care about?

I read about a blog that stated before anyone read it that their blog was all full of lies, when in fact that was a lie, because the blog was full of truth about the lies!