In theory, a cost-benefit analysis on the reasons why we lie can be summed up with the probability for failure, amount to be gained from success and, consequences of failure. However, in the real world the reasons why we lie, cheat and decieve have a larger degree of complexity due to the influences of factors such as our perceptions of self and how others perceive us. The part from the podcast that resonated with me the most was the fact that even though the probability of being caught decreased, the amount of cheating in the experiment did not rise. Logically, it would make sense if these two variables had a direct correlation because a lower probability of being caught makes cheating easier since it is less of a risk. What this experiment by professor Ariely confirms is that people lie in small bits and that everyone lies but, the tolerance or, amount that is morally acceptable to each individual varies. …show more content…
Cheating is more of a last resort, and in some sense a coping mechanism used to deal with or alleviate those elements that can cause anxiety. We all have a guilty conscience and a moral compass that guides us. However, the fear of failure and pressure of success can drive us to do things that we fully comprehend is wrong. This is a major issue in academia. It is also the reason why we have things like academic integrity policies and the honor code which holds you accountable and makes not cheating more of a moral obligation.
In addition, I found this idea of how we rationalize things to be very
Richard Gunderman and Stephanie Ericsson each have written a piece explaining the impacts of lying on society. In Gunderman’s article, “Is Lying Bad for Us?” he outlines the health effects of lying, and how there are serious “mental and physical consequences,” (Gunderman 1). Ericsson’s essay, “The Ways We Lie,” focuses more on the different types of lying, and how each has a different impact. Although Gunderman’s and Ericsson’s pieces of literature both relate to the negative impacts of lying, their different thoughts of how lying impacts society, including types, health, and solutions, outweigh their similarities.
In The Ways We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson expresses the inevitability of lying and the way it is casually incorporated into our everyday lives. She personally brings light to all the forms of lying and some that are often not recognized as a lie. Ericsson questions the reasons and validity behind lies by highlighting the effects and consequences.
Are everyday rituals, such as, facades reflected as to being a lie? Simply preparing for a meeting or interview does not come off as lying, although another type of façade such as when someone asks, “Are you okay,” after a death of someone close to you, in reality it is a form of a lie, because you are not being honest. In Stephanie Erricsson’s article “The Ways We Lie,” she discusses many different types of lying, that most wouldn’t even consider. Ericsson claimed, “But façades can be destructive because they are used to seduce others into an illusion” (409). Depending how a façade is used, the outcome can be beneficial or damaging. There are facades that are used to cover up one’s true feelings, in order to protect an individual and then there is a type in which one puts on a mask to cover up how awful of a person they are. Charity, a former friend, deceived me with the qualities of everything she was not, my mom is a great example of when it comes to hiding when she is saddened. In this article “The Ways We Lie,” Stephanie Ericsson has a great point of view on the destructiveness of facades, although, it can very well be used in a good way just as much as in a bad way, in fact, like my protective mother, using facades for mine and my sisters own good and then a conniving friend using facades in
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
Stephanie Ericsson is a seasoned writer who draws from deeply personal experiences to find inspiration for her writing. She has battled with substance abuse for years, and had to deal with the sudden death of her husband while pregnant with their only child. Several pieces of her work have been published by Harpercollins and “The Ways We Lie” was originally published in the Utne Reader, a magazine that offers readers thoughtful writing from many perspectives.
When initially asked about the morality of lying, it is easy for one to condemn it for being wrong or even corrupt. However, those asked are generally guilty of the crime on a daily basis. Lying is, unfortunately, a normal aspect of everyday life. In the essay “The Ways We Lie,” author Stephanie Ericsson makes note of the most common types of lies along with their consequences. By ordering the categories from least to most severe, she expresses the idea that lies enshroud our daily lives to the extent that we can no longer between fact and fiction. To fully bring this argument into perspective, Ericsson utilizes metaphor, rhetorical questions, and allusion.
Situations of cheating have seemed to become more and more commonplace when the student is bored by the subject material, poor teaching and or feels they have no use for the knowledge. Kohn even states in his article, “cheating is more common when students experience the academic tasks they’ve been given as boring, irrelevant, or overwhelming.” This infers that if a student were attending a school interested in learning about art, the student maybe more inclined to cheat in a business accounting class due to the fact the student would find the subject material irrelevant to them and their future. Students seem to be less inclined to cheat and it “is relatively rare in classrooms where the learning is genuinely engaging and meaningful to students and where a commitment to exploring significant ideas hasn’t been eclipsed by a single-minded emphasis on “rigor”” (Kohn). To simplify everything mentioned above; students are inclined to cheat in school when they are disinterested in the subject material and or are overwhelmed by in assignment or finally the result in a poor teacher. Everyone who has attended school can relate to this in some way or another, most people do not want to retain knowledge they have no interest in or use for in their
Recently lying has become a very disregarded subject. However, no matter how much recognition it gets, it continues to give people the same uneasy feeling. Most people are taught at a very young age that lying is wrong, immoral, and frowned upon by society. Of course no one wants to do something seen as wrong, immoral, and frowned upon. Therefor it begs the questions; why is lying wrong? Why is it considered immoral? Why is it frowned upon by society? To answer these questions, we must first understand why we lie, the different types of lies, and the personal consequences that accompany lying. There are two profound articles that focus on these topics. We will be analyzing Stephanie Ericsson’s The Ways We Lie, as well as Richard Gunderman’s
But research shows that everyone cheats a little--right up to the point where they lose their sense of integrity.” by Dan Ariely and “Why We Lie: The
What are lies? A lie is defined as follows: To make a statement that one knows to be false, especially with the intent to deceive. There are several ways that lies are told for instance, there are white lies, lies of omission, bold faced lies, and lies of exaggeration. No matter what type of lie that one chooses to tell many people believe that lies do more harm than good.
In the article written by Barbara Ballinger, Brad Blanton states, “ We shouldn’t manipulate the truth except for rare times.”This is what some think, however lying to save a relationship is also important. This also states that lying is not a good thing, but lying can help save lives and jobs. In the article entitled “ Rejecting All Lies: Immanuel Kant states, “ A lie, even if it does not wrong any particular individual, always harms mankind individually, for it vitiates the source of law.” However, Kant was a German philosopher who lived in the 18th Century. This shows that what people think about lying now, might not be the same as back then. To conclude, others believe that lying is unjustified, however lying can be a form of protecting relationships and saving lives.
Cheating means acting dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain a benefit, in achieving a task or acing an exam. Many factors can affect why many students choose to cheat. First, the temptation of being able to take just a few lines from the Internet can be convincing. Second, achieving better grades, Students will tend to cheat in various ways to give themselves a boost grade in a class. Third, work load and pressure, Students will turn to cheating to lighten the homework load which often takes many hours to complete. In this ted talk, Dan Ariely mentioned two common reasons for his argument. According to Dan Ariely, people tend to cheat if they justify their reason to do so, or when they are surrounded by people who also cheat. And also to gain benefit in a test students can tend to cheat.
Modern students face many pressures for academic success. They are often unwilling to disappoint their parents or spouses. Some fear that not cheating will weaken a student’s ability to compete with their peers. They rationalize their unethical behavior, unwilling to accept a poor grade, consequently justifying cheating as the only means to that end.
However, not everyone feels the need to make excuses, as a poll in the USA shows. Many of the young people questioned admitted that one of the main reasons for cheating was simply laziness. Some of them admitted that they did not cheat when they had studied their lesson. If this is really the case, anyone tempted to cheat should consider the following warning in the book of Proverbs: "The one working with a slack hand will be of little means." (Proverbs 10:4)
We might want to first follow that question with another question. What is cheating and why do so many people do it? Most people would agree that cheating is deceitful and one who obtains answers by cheating is not practicing good integrity. We could further add that cheating also prevents the student from having to put in long hours of studying and preparation. Recent technology has made this “time saving method” even more efficient.