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As Stephanie Ericsson says in her essay “The Ways We Lie”, there are many different forms of deception. That said, some lies are worse than others. Stereotyping, for instance, actively harms the lives of millions of people, making them out to be other. Groupthink makes otherwise intelligent people into fools who blindly follow the crowd. And delusions, while perhaps not morally wrong, is dangerous to whoever believes in them. Lies like those are the worst kinds a person can use.
Stereotypes are perhaps the worst of all lies; not only do they spread misinformation about those targeted, they often exist for long after they have been disproven, with many refusing to admit that they have been deceived. Some of these people can be eventually convinced not to let such biases cloud their judgement. Others, however, will not acknowledge the truth no matter how many facts prove the lie. Often, they will make up evidence, and even spread misinformation, in order to preserve the lie. As such, stereotypes are hard to stamp out, and need to be fought at every opportunity. Stereotypes are often
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based of real issues that are massively exaggerated. For example, the stereotype that African-Americans have lower I. Qs that white Americans started because they often score lower on tests. However, this is because for a long time, African-Americans have not had the same opportunities for education or background as whites, and are disadvantaged. When given the same advantages, they do far better. Still, once stereotypes begin, they are difficult to disprove in the minds of many. Groupthink is another immoral form of deception, as it stamps out opposing viewpoints and refuses to acknowledge facts dangerous to the views of the group.
It does not allow individuality to express itself, and is often used to create a cult of personality around the leader(s). Not to mention that groupthink often creates an illusion of invincibility, which is usually disproven only after tragedy has occurred. Thus, while not as immoral as stereotyping, it may be more dangerous to those are taken in. Personally, when I was in Boy Scouts, groupthink was very common. Many of us were afraid to state the answers to questions that we knew, because we did not want to provoke those who did not know, and our counselor discouraged learning information that did not come from our handbooks. Thankfully, our troop had no major issues occur, but we should not have developed such a mentality at
all. Delusions are the results of someone deceiving themselves, and as such, are often dangerous. After all, if what happened is not your fault, why bother to change? Not to mention, they are among the hardest of lies to dispel, as the mind will do anything to keep itself from changing. It will dismiss any evidence, make up every defense, and absolutely refuse to do acknowledge the truth, no matter what it takes. This is the most common form of deception, though the exact details are unique to every individual. My father often attributes any difficulties in his life to whoever has political power at the time, even when they have no obvious connection. I have not talked to him about it, mainly because it would be futile, and would only create bad blood. Which itself, may be a delusion I told myself. So, these are the three worst kinds of deception. Stereotypes hurts anyone who isn’t in the majority, and sometimes even then. Self-deception forces those who do it into make fools of themselves. Groupthink promotes dangerous illusions, and can easily be used to stamp out dissent. That is why they are the most dangerous lies.
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.
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 the essay The Way We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson writes that “All the ‘isms’-racism, sexism, ageism, et al.-are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the cliché, which are lies of exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are always dangerous. They take a single tree and make it a landscape.” This quote is important due to the fact that stereotypes play a major role in many aspects of our society. In American society we have a tendency to pass judgment on people just because of a pre-existing stereotype that our society has formed on particular groups over the years. American Society tends to create stereotypes because of the simplicity it adds to our lives, but stereotypes can cause us to oversimplify the characteristics of others, encourage prejudice, and can even create many more severe dangers.
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
Should we stop lying and she would stop letting people lie to us? In “The Ways We Lie”, Stephanie Ericsson describes lying as “a cultural cancer that… reorders reality until moral garbage becomes as invisible to us as water is to a fish” (Ericsson 186). Ericsson believes that we have accepted lies to the point where do not recognize it anymore. Ericsson has a point, lying should not be tolerated but it should be the unnecessary lies that should not be tolerated. There are lies that are justifiable based on the intent of the person lying. All lies are harmful in their own ways from small lies, like white lies, to big lies, like out-and-out lies.
In the short story The Ways We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson describes many different categories of lies. She first starts out explain the little white lie, describing it as a lie which is told when trying to avoid hurting someone. An example she gives in the text is, “telling a friend he looks great when he looks like hell can be based on a decision that the friend needs a compliment more than a frank opinion”(Ericsson, 2004, 121). Ericsson then describes facades, facades according to the Ericsson is when a person shows you what they want you to see, but it’s not the real them. Stating “facades can be destructive because they are used to seduce others into an illusion” (Ericsson, 2004, 122). A perfect example of facades are when a person has to
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
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.
“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life, but define yourself.”– Harvey Fierstein
At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate.
“Stereotypes unreliable, exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account” (Schaefer 40). Stereotypes can be positive, but are usually associated with negative beliefs or actions such as racial profiling.
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.
Stereotypes play an important role in today's society and particularly in Propaganda. According to the Webster's Dictionary stereotyping is defined as a fixed conventional notion or conception of an individual or group of people, heldby a number of people. Stereotypes can be basic or complex generalizations which people apply to individuals or groups based on their appearance, behaviour and beliefs. Stereotypes are found everywhere. Though our world seems to be improving in many ways it seems almost impossible to liberate it from stereotypes.
Stereotypes are a fixed image of all members of a culture, group, or race, usually based on limited and inaccurate information resulting from the minimal contact with these stereotyped groups. Stereotypes have many forms: people are stereotyped according to their religion, race, ethnicity, age, gender, color, or national origins. This kind of intolerance is focused on the easily observable characteristics of groups of people. In general, stereotypes reduce individuals to a rigid and inflexible image that doesn't account for the multi-dimensional nature of human beings. One example of stereotypes is the categorization of the Jews in the Elizabethan era.
Stereotypes are assumptions that are made about an entire group of people based on observations of a few; they act as scapegoats for prejudice behaviour and ideologies.