The Importance Of Lying Essay

Lying is something that everyone has done, whether people would like to admit it or not. Despite this hopefully regretful occurrence, people often do not understand why someone would choose to lie. Obviously, everybody has different circumstances and reasons for lying, but all dishonesty relates back to one particular purpose: telling lies is caused primarily by a desire to protect oneself. The most common reason people lie is to protect themselves out of fear. Being afraid causes people to act differently than they normally would and make remarks that are not always truthful. Lying is caused not necessarily by a person’s contemplation of the escape they are given when telling the lie, but the fear they experience when thinking about telling the truth. This can easily be illustrated when imagining a young child lying about an incident such as breaking something in the house because they are fearful of punishment from their parents. Although fear of punishment seems to be the most plausible reason for lying, fear can strike people in many other ways, leaving them to think that dishonesty is the only escape. “It was Tad Williams who said, ‘We tell lies when we are afraid… afraid of what we don’t know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie,

Using lies to manipulate others often provides the liar with some type of reward, for example money or drugs; however, this reward may not always be tangible. Rewards could also include avoiding undesirable situations by telling someone not to do something (McAllister, para. 10). Individuals also attempt to manipulate themselves at times. People can get stuck in adverse settings so they will lie to themselves to promote a more positive attitude. The desire for rewards and happiness is what makes manipulation one of the most powerful causes of