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The ways we lie stephanie ericsson human nature
Different types of lying
Essays on why people lie
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Recommended: The ways we lie stephanie ericsson human nature
“Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do whats right.”(goodreads) Everyone knows right from wrong when certain things are appropriate but that doesn’t mean we always do the right thing. All humans show primitive behavior,such as Lying and sometimes when you lie it has more harsh effects than others, It just depends why you lie and who you are lying to whether its to yourself or a friend or an authority figure. People don't always do this but when put in certain situations everyone will act in this way. Just because its wrong doesn’t mean it never happens you can see this in life every day. People lie and there are many different reasons why we lie to each other. Some of us lie to ourselves because we want to feel better and be …show more content…
This may cause them to lose friends because even if they think their friend or loved one won’t find out, they might and knowing that they didn’t deserve the truth from someone can hurt them a lot and they might never be ever to trust that person again.”If you’ve ever been lied to, you know how difficult it can be to ever trust that person again. People can’t help but wonder why a friend or family member would treat you so poorly...’My dad lies to us (my brothers and I) about going out to bars and drinking. He doesn’t think we will find out but he is always wrong! I tell him how much it hurts us each time he does lie but he just keeps on lying. The worst lie he has told me was that he was with my brother and not at the bar—but I was with my brother.’”(McAllister). People lie because they think the truth is worse then the lie even though they know the lie is wrong. Just because lying is wrong we still do it maybe they want to protect someone they care about, but then again maybe its to protect oneself. We all have an instinct to protect ourselves, sometimes that means lying because we know we did something wrong and we don't want to get caught.”Lying often starts with wrong-doing. For whatever reason, we do something that others disapprove of. When they are in position of greater power, they might punish us. Even if not,their disapproval may be punishment
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.
Lying is bad but the fear that can come from it is worse. Fear can rule a person which drives them to extreme and irrational acts that can shape society in a negative way. We as people are so accustomed to how we should act that during times of fear and crisis our vision is blurred and sometimes our decision making abilities are impaired. We often look past at how much fear can affect us and our society. Starting from Salem 1692 and going to the McCarthy era fear ruled the people and even now in present time America we are constantly living in fear.
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.
When confronted with a problem, why does the human brain default to lying? Dishonesty is never a solution, although it may seem like the best option in the spur of a moment. My grandma always gave the example of her youth: she avoided and deceived her friend’s sister because the little girl riled everyone. Come to find out, the sister passed the following month due to an illness. I could never imagine the guilt she experienced. Nevertheless, everyone has been deceitful before and many characters were in the tragedy, The Crucible, by playwright Arthur Miller. Reasons for lying are understandable, but most people will admit that mendacity has only caused pain. Lying’s outcome is never positive: it may seem like a good option, for falsehood can save a person’s life, benefit someone, and it eases stress, but these are all transitory.
The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or be easy going. 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 can be beneficial to anyone, and people will follow the example of being honest. People know it is easier to tell lies than face the truth because they are either doing it for money, or protection for themselves, people they love, or relationships. It was discovered by Nick that his whole family wasn’t dead because at Gatsby’s funeral he met Gatsby’s father.
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
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
We all lie in one way or another. Whether it is a simple white lie about how someone really looks or blaming someone else for something we really did, we all have lied. In Stephanie Ericsson’s essay, “The Ways We Lie”, she explains the ways people lie in order to get what they want, to stay out of trouble, or just to hide from the cold hard truth. Ericsson explains how is it nearly impossible to go without telling a lie and how lies affect others. After evaluating Ericsson’s essay on the many ways we lie, I can say I am most guilty of the telling whites and lying by omission.
Whether we like to admit it or not, keeping secrets that should be let out into the light are lies that can damage relationships. Actions like these will likely cause a lack of trust in relationships, which exemplifies why lying is always harmful to any relationship. According to Daily Mail, men lie about six times a day, while women lie three times a day. Out of these numbers, it is certain one will recognize at least a single lie. Studies have shown that when one lies, the brain has to remember everything that it said. Taxing the brain causes trauma, such as stress. Law enforcement investigators are trained to ask the liar to repeat the scenario or lie backwards to see if they are actually telling the truth. Moreover, lying is just
We lie all the time, lying is not something new to our culture. We lie to our parents, we lie to our friends, we even lie to our significant other, but why do we do it? There is not one set reason on why we lie but they can vary from an insignificant reason to something more nefarious. A good operational definition of a lie is “A lie is a false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who knows it is not the whole truth, intentionally.” (Freitas-Magalhães) We have been raised to know that lying is usually a bad thing, and it’s better to tell the truth, not to mention the circumstances get exponentially worse if you are caught lying. No one wants to be labeled as a liar, or untrustworthy. This may sound unorthodox but I personally think lying is perfectly fine; depending on the situation. If you have a prima-facie duty to be dishonest it’s perfectly acceptable. Ross says a prima facie duty or obligation is an actual duty. “One’s actual duty is what one ought to do all things considered.” (Carson) I’m not the only one who finds this too be true. Ross would also agree with me, He says “Lying is permissible or obligatory when the duty not to lie conflicts with a more important or equal important prima facie duty.” (Carson) As I was doing research on this topic I did read one extremely compelling argument on why we ought not to lie. Aristotle basically said a person who makes a defense for lying could never be trusted. (King.)
Telling the truth teaches one person self- respect for themselves and others as well. Telling the truth also sets a good example for others to do the same thing and make a “chain reaction”. People can make a “chain reaction” by passing on what they have done from one person to another, and before you know it, everyone is changing greatly, and the world is progressing tremendously. Lies are told all around the world, and they are told every day. One lie can often lead to another lie and cause you to be caught up in one big lie that will be hard to get out of if people do not tell the truth. If a person thinks that is okay to lie, they better think again, the truth always comes out no matter how hard a person tries to keep it in, or how much someone thinks that they can get away with lying. No person can keep in or hold a grudge with what they have done. After all, telling the truth is the right thing to do, and everyone should do it. Telling the truth is always much easier than the trouble of a
Liars have rumors spread around about how they lie all the time. Nobody wants to talk to them because they won't know if they are lying to them or not. They aren't trusted as much as people who don't lie. Liars never get very far in life and always have a reputation of lying. It's much better to tell the truth and have friends who trust them, rather than lying and having rumors spread around making no one like them.
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.
Growing up, we are always told to never lie because it is the worst thing you could ever do. “Lying will only lead to a horrible situation with less than mediocre results. While lying is not always good, it is not always bad either. Samuel Butler once said “Lying has a kind of respect and reverence with it. We pay a person the compliment of acknowledging his superiority whenever we lie to him.
Self-protection is the main factor of telling lies. According to some, people tell lies to shield themselves from danger, punishment, or from an activity they