The Desire to Lie

December 14, 2012 by Rowena

Come to think of it, do you remember the last time you told a lie? Whether it’s big or small, an aversion to the truth, a total tall tale, or simply a white lie, a lie is still a lie. Think closely about all the conversations that you had with your friends today. Did any of them seem like they were lying to you? Yes? No? The truth is, you were lied to more than once over the course of one day. An average person fibs once in approximately every four conversations they have, and by saying average, this includes both you and I. Scary no?

We live in a society today where lying has become almost as easy as telling the truth. The unbelievable is that university students lie about 50% of the time to their mothers and 75% of the time to strangers. There’s a 10-15% chance that a man’s child is not actually his own. We have even developed an interesting survival method: self deception. The truth behind our desire to fib actually lies behind our fight for survival. We lie to prevent hurting our loved ones’ feelings. We lie to hide ourselves from the ugly reality. And the most important of all, we lie to protect ourselves. Whether it’s on the Internet or in everyday life, it’s all about hiding our identities and saving our own skin. After all, who doesn’t feel accomplished and invincible to be seen as someone whom no one else can be?

People lie so much now that it has become almost a reflex to fib once the situation takes a turn for the worse. It is even discovered that animals also engage in the art of deception out in the wild, but scientists are saying humans are the only creatures existent on Earth capable of deceiving others and themselves. To view this with a more positive perspective, maybe lying is not always so bad after all. Without this ability, imagine how strained many of our relationships would be. Maybe some truths are truly better left unsaid or even bent.

With all of this being said, even our deepest, darkest secrets can no longer be kept safe by our trusty self, so who do we truly have left to believe in?