The Irresistible Pull of Lying

Lying is one of the fundamental flaws in human nature. It reflects a person’s inability to distinguish between being good and being safe. The root cause of a lie is never primarily dishonesty; it’s essentially a need to protect the individual mentally, emotionally or physically. It is possible that from childhood some people learn to adopt it as a defence to fear and anxiety. It is also possible that some people develop characteristics that compel them to be fluid with the truth.

All of history and religion is founded on a lie of some sort. It’s commonly referred to as myth and legend but it’s really just a set of lies. The various creation stories and the legendary tales of intrigue and derring do serve a purpose but are mostly fantasies. And very often these are the things which become cultural idioms.

Adults routinely lie to children in order to protect them from what might be considered emotionally disturbing truths; or sometimes to spare themselves having to explain things they do not fully comprehend themselves. Sometimes these lies persist and become a pattern in the relationship between adults and young people. The adult might be convinced of the well intentioned nature of the lie but often resorts to untruth to serve their own ends.

Human relationships are mostly bonded by a process of teasing out the truth. After first meeting in person people tend to ask around about their new acquaintances to confirm or check out what they’ve seen or heard. When an initial online connection is made people will trawl social network or internet presence to verify what they think they know. Find out if it’s an actual person, a catfish, a true likeness, an interesting character or some racist, xenophobic, misogynistic, homophobic, sociopathic internet troll.

Politicians now appear to consider lying a professional tool of the trade. Misrepresentations and false denials seem to be something they dispense freely in the event of a crisis. They seem to consider the lie to be a more than adequate recourse until they happen to be found out or caught in the lie. They take it for granted that if caught in a lie then an apology is adequate contrition.

The lie of omission is something a lot of people like to imagine isn’t a lie in real terms. However, it is an act of deceit in which an untruth or lie is left unchallenged. The purpose and the effect of it are often harmful and hurtful to parties involved.

One has to recognise a distinction between lying and imagining. Creating fiction represents an attempt to portray or reflect real life or a life as imagined. Lying seeks to distort and misrepresent reality. While fiction is capable of having a negative influence it doesn’t attempt to pass itself off as fact.

There will always be some question about whether there is any justification for lying, even if it is considered for a greater good. People are naturally inclined to stretch the truth when put under pressure, or sense an advantage from it. The moral imperative is for people to be mostly honest. I think that is the least anyone should expect but it maybe all one can hope for.