. A key reason that we lie, cheat and deceive one another is that we have learned over thousands of years that it can be rather helpful for our primary evolutionary purpose of staying alive long enough to have children and look after them until they can likewise procreate. Cheating is good for you Acting to ensure survival of the species is a fundamental force that is programmed into our genes and, whilst we have learned that living in tribes is helpful, we also have learned that deception, particularly if it goes undetected, can get us more of what we want and keep us out of trouble, even if we deserve it. How the guy gets the girl is less important than him being able to sow his seeds. Perhaps it is no surprise that homo sapiens has been …show more content…
Nature uses it all the time, from camouflage that hides prey from predators, to cuckoos who avoid the hassles of parenthood by laying their eggs in other birds' nests. Closest to us is probably chimpanzees where, for example, an inferior male will sit behind a dominant male displaying his erect member to a female in front of them, inviting her for a 'bit on the side'. The race for smarts As humans we have unusually large brains and one reason that has been proposed for this is to enable the thinking that lets us dream up our tricky deceptions. A larger, more complex brain enables us to think around the problem and project ideas into the future to guess whether they will work or not. We have even developed the Theory of Mind ability to help us with this, whereby we think about what others are thinking and so change our plans accordingly. Paradoxically, alongside evolution of deceptive ability has been evolution of the ability to detect and counteract deception. Just as plants evolved to be taller and taller to reach the sun’s light, so there has been a competition of increasing intelligence that feeds this battle of deception versus
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.
In “The Ways We Lie,” by Stephanie Ericsson, she defines various types of lying and uses quotations at the beginning of each description as a rhetorical strategy. Throughout the reading she uses similar references or discussion points at the beginning and ending of each paragraph. Most believe lying is wrong, however, I believe lying is acceptable in some situations and not others when Stephanie Ericsson is asked, “how was your day.” In “The Ways We Lie,” she lies to protect her husband’s feelings, therefore, I think people lie because they are afraid of the consequences that come with telling the truth.
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
Porter, Stephen and John C. Yuille. “Deception.” The Encyclopedia of Psychology. Ed. Alan E. Kadzin. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. 448-452.
(8) has suggested that the inhibition hypothesis is related to what is currently known about cognitive processes. Mainly, the limited cognitive resources the brain possesses can only be divided between so many tasks; as cognitive demand increases past a particular point [i.e. through high emotional intensity/complex lie] emotional leakage will occur while the individual attempts to be deceptive (8). It is this concept of emotional leakage, precipitated from the inhibition hypothesis, that has been of great interest to researchers as it offers a glimpse into the inner affective state of the subject (8). The applied applications of the concept have been particularly useful in fields concerned with deception detection - especially in regards to high stakes lies (8).
Deception is a part of everyday life. Whether it be a couple lying to each other or an infomercial claiming something is true when it is false, deception has always been an oppressive part of society. For years, people have lied to each other. Ancient and modern day relationships have experienced turmoil caused by deceit. In these myths, characteristics of present day humans shine through because they are the ones writing the myths.
“No matter how you hope, no matter how you try, you can’t make truth out of a lie” (Berenstain 1). Various children programs or books, like The Berenstain Bears, try to discourage children from lying. They attempt to do this by informing them of the consequences lying brings. Every day, countless people find themselves being deceived, whether by their coworkers, friends, or family. While some lies may appear harmless, most do more harm than good. Lying takes on several different modes for which it infests itself into the daily grind. A few of these configurations are white lies, facades, delusion or doublespeak. More than half of the population have become desensitized to deceit, because today lying is prevalent, and doublespeak is predominant
Sutliff, Usha. “‘Liars’ Brains Wired Differently.” USC News. USC University of Southern California. 19 Sept. 2005. Web. 11 December 2013.
..., Szatkowskal, l., & Baron, J. (2012). Sex, Lies and fMRI Gender Differences in Neural Basis of Deception. Plos ONE, 7(8), 1-11. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0043076
Deception is used across the world for many different reasons and under many different circumstances. Intentions range from harm, to defense, and even being unconsciously. Human instincts enable us to lie to others, simply as part of human
Cheating can set a pattern that can lead to a practice of lying that may involve more serious matters. In the first place, the harmlessness of cheating is notoriously disputable. What the cheater perceives as harmless or even beneficial may not be so in the eyes of the deceived.
I agree with the statement "honesty is the best policy". People will be able to trust people who are honest, liars will have rumors spread around about them, and it's just plain easier to tell the truth. Nobody likes people who lie all the time and won't know whether to trust them or not. People get annoyed by people who lie a lot.
Can you remember the last time someone lied to you? Or how about the last time you lied to someone else? Did you ever stop and ask yourself why? There are so many different reasons that a person might lie. Maybe a lie about something to keep oneself out of trouble, or even a lie to impress other people. But either way there are always going to be serious consequences or effects of lying.
A story has numerous important effects in our daily lives. It has been one of the most effective source of inspiration know to man. In this I would like to tell you about the something which was taught to me in childhood. “Behavior” the word defined as “a person who was well treated to represents themselves to others. This thing is generally comes from our family; the one quote was I always remember “Telling a lie and boast may end up in trouble”. When I tell lie to someone this quote comes into my mind. I can still remember when I was six year old and whenever I had made any mischief by saying a lie to family, my grandmother used to tell this story in brief.
"Honesty is the best policy," is a phrase many people still hear regularly. Most people tell their first lie when they are kids. Telling a lie is an exceptionally strange propensity because naturally everyone knows how to tell one. Mass numbers of individuals lie for various reasons that include the need to provide self-protection, the lie is oblivious to the liar, and to enhance another's feelings.