1. General: In The Honest Truth About Dishonesty Ariely provides situations and examples of how a plethora of people in our society often lie in every opportunity they get. Ariely states many people lie to benefit themselves, and do this by weighing their options of “cross benefit”. The meaning of “cross benefit” is defined by the consequence and the reward of the dishonest act that a person commits. Ariely is able to articulate this information by backing his statements with experiments he conducted. From these experiments Ariely says that people rationalizing their lies are dangerous to our society as a whole.
2. Author’s Identity: Dan Ariely, the author of The Honest Truth About Dishonesty is a professor at Duke University, teaching psychology
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Author’s Purpose and Intended Audience: Ariely’s purpose was to put insight on the human behavior of being dishonest. In society the “cross benefit” factor plays a large role in the way we are dishonest. Many people go and download illegal content and not think much of their actions because the thought of having free content outweighs the small possibility of getting caught. To combat this problem of dishonesty, Ariely believes that with the right incentives this dishonest behavior could be decreased.
4. Historical Context of the Work: Ariely’s purpose for writing this text was to show people that you are able to fool yourself during certain situations is easy. A study conducted by the author gave evidence that people who are dishonest but rationalize their dishonesty are dangerous and present bigger problems than “big cheaters”. The fact that people are able to manipulate and rationalize their dishonesty is dangerous. Stated by Ariely, dishonesty should not be tolerated even at the smallest indiscretions, as it will gain momentum and become
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Author’s General & Specific Views: Ariely’s proves that although dishonesty is not evident to the regular member in society it is widely common and happens everyday. He also states how rationalizing dishonesty is dangerous and can lead to bad third order effects. Ariely shows how although an act like downloading illegal content is frowned upon, many people rationalize this form of stealing since it is a common occurrence and the benefits outweigh the consequences. This rationalization is called “cross benefit” and is a natural thing for humans to do. Many experiments were conducted to test these theories and found that twelve “big cheaters” stole an amount that added up to $150 where as eighteen thousand “little cheaters” stole an amount that added up to $36,000. This experiment provided evidence that proves that small forms of dishonesty are the most dangerous, compared to large groups with a few individuals that lie, cheat, or steal on a big scale. From this evidence Ariely states that even the small forms of dishonesty should not be tolerated. To change this wrong mentality of rationalization we must put good incentives and influence good morals to decrease dishonest
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.
People tend to blindly cheat to get what they want, and go about it as if it were normal. People don’t usually want to work for things if they can get it the easy way. In Stephen L. Carter’s article “The Rules about Rules”, Carter explains why Americans choose to cheat and how they don’t necessarily know right from wrong. Carter’s interpretation is accurate people do lack integrity due to having low self-esteem, and not having the courage to be different and separating themselves from the crowd.
William Damon uses the classical rhetorical devices of logos, pathos and ethos to convince his audience of the urgency to address the decline of honesty. He provides a balanced assessment of the need for discretion in specific circumstance, the expectation of lying that leads to the decline in honesty, and the outright accommodation to cheat without consequence. By alluding to historical attitudes regarding honesty, Damon provides a vast background to support his thesis. His essay successfully evokes a response to this current situation of decline in honesty, and creates an urgent call for action to restore the virtue of honesty. As a society, the audience would likely agree with Damon that the virtue of honesty is fundamental to the success of democracy and we would desire to espouse to the protection of this jeopardized virtue.
Although it is considered wrong to tell lies, it seems that literature has offered us situations where telling lies isn’t necessarily bad. Of course, lying often has a tragic outcome, but not always for the person or people who told the lie or lies. Oftentimes, these unfortunate outcomes are directed at the person about whom the lie was told. Furthermore, these stories have explained that dishonesty can result in success for both the liar and the target. Maybe we have been teaching the wrong values to our children.
Plato once said: “Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.” People are taught from a very young age never to lie or keep secrets. It would be easy for anyone to stand behind the argument: “Honesty is the best policy,” but in times of personal anguish, that decree is quickly disdained. What this argument fails to consider is that keeping a secret or lying is the justifiable in times of crisis.
Ericsson argued that “telling the truth all the time is nearly impossible” (159). Lies are part of everyday life, like drinking coffee for breakfast. For Barkley, lies became a stifling part of his life. The two authors explained how lies can impact a society.
Lying is an issue that has been debated on for a long time. Some people believe that lying is sometimes ok in certain circumstances. Some people believe lying is always acceptable. In contrast, some believe lying is always bad. Keeping all other’s opinions in mind, I believe that lying is a deficient way of solving problems and is a bad thing. I claim that only certain situations allow the usage of lies and that otherwise, lying is bad. Dishonesty is bad because it makes it harder to serve justice, harms the liar individually, and messes up records. Furthermore, it should only be said to protect someone from grave danger.
Telling the truth can have some consequences, but a lie can cause more damage in a relationship once it has been figured out. People believe that by just lying, a problem is solved, but problems start when lies are told. Lying destroys relationships and truth builds honest relationships which, can last forever. In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easygoing. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one, then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. Being truthful
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
Lying is simply an act of not telling the truth, and this definition of lying will be used in future sections of this paper. There are three groups of lies t...
Author Allison Kornet in her article (1997) “The Truth about Lying: Has Lying Gotten a Bad Rap” states that deception or lying has become a part of everyone’s life. A person lies or deceives as often as he brushes his teeth or combs his hair. Many psychologists have neglected or ignored the concept of deception or lying and its effects on everyone’s life. Kornet explains that in the previous two to three decades, the psychologists started noticing or analyzing the effects of a person’s deception on others or why a person lies so many times in his day-to-day life. The person might learn lying from childhood
“Most people in the U.S. want to do the right thing, and they want others to do the right thing. Thus, reputation and trust are important to pretty much everyone individuals and organizations. However, individuals do have different values, attributes, and priorities that guide their decisions and behavior. Taken to an extreme, almost any personal value, attribute, or priority can “cause” an ethical breach (e.g. risk taking, love of money or sta...
Through out history people have been influenced by what they want to hear and the way a current trend is happening. The evolution of mankind has drifted towards a different society than what we where born to sustain. We are emotionally driven human beings that want to feel accepted by the rules of society. Sometimes an individual can confuse actions or emotions towards trying to fulfill the standards society has imposed. I have analyzed two articles that incorporate how a society reacts towards integrity as well as honesty and the belief that an individual in order to be a part of society one must comply with the standards that are set. As I began to interpret what Stephen L. Carter explained in “The Insufficiency of Honesty” I examined they
Many people in the world are pretenders and liars. Even in the early stages of life many children pretend to be a distinguishable figure. Whether it is a princess or a superhero, these children create false images of themselves to feel important or confident. Although everyone has his or her own reason for doing such a thing, many do it for their own personal gain. Countless amounts of people can relate to this (including myself) because many have told lies or pretended to be something they are not multiple times in their lives. Even as adults, people still lie and pretend. Not only do they create false statements to build images for themselves, they create images in which they can look upon in a positive way. Whether it is to win over the heart of a woman, make good friends, or even get revenge, lying is used for personal gain everywhere in the world. Brock Clarke once said “Sometimes the lies you tell are less frightening than the loneliness you might feel if you stopped telling them.” The lies one tells are used to create false images to gain securities and a completely new life. These lies improve self-esteem and make people feel they are more important than they actually are. Without lies people would feel alone, unimportant, and even boring because they will continue to live their dull, normal lives. With lies, people build walls of confidence and live with integrity, not fearing isolation and abandonment in the world. Three examples of literature where lying is used for personal gain are “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Even though these books contain examples of liars, each character uses lying for different intenti...
Business nowadays encounter with a lot of moral challenges in today’s global economy. Everyone is thriving to be more successful than their competitors, to make their next profits, to keep their job, to earn a big bonus, or to compete effectively. There exists temptation to bend lines, omit information, and do whatever it takes to get ahead of their competition. Many business employees and executives succumb. Sadly, the theme becomes...