Q:









What Book is so special to you that you feel immediately closer to someone when they mention how important it is to them?





Lying by Sam Harris and The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch. More importantly than how I view things, these two books have changed how I act too. Using Sam's terminology, these two books were a firmware upgrade for my mind. I will be posting more on David's book, there is much to unpack and it is the best book I have ever read, for now, this post will focus on Sam's book.



This question was asked on Twitter , and I surprised myself in how quickly an answer came to mind (though I cheated and mentioned 2) because whenever people ask what are your favorite books I find it tough to answer. I have enjoyed so many that I'd be hard-pressed to just list 10. Despite this fact, I have found that although many books have taught me valuable lessons, none have completely changed the way I view things as much asby Sam Harris andby David Deutsch. More importantly than how I view things, these two books have changed how I act too. Using Sam's terminology, these two books were a firmware upgrade for my mind. I will be posting more on David's book, there is much to unpack and it is the best book I have ever read, for now, this post will focus on Sam's book.





Is it Ever Okay to Lie?

A lie according to Sam, is to intentionally mislead others when they are expecting honest communication. I highlight intentionally because being truthful, and always telling the truth are different things. We can be mistaken, thus accidentally say something that is not true, but we were being truthful in our attempt thus not lying. I highlight 'expecting' because if you mislead when people are expecting you too, you are also not lying, which leaves magicians or actors off the hook it also leaves me off the hook to deceive my opponent in a video game such as Warcraft 3. So with those ambiguities aside, it is never okay to lie.



