The Truth About Lying - From big whoppers to little white lies

[BridgeTheGap]

Nearly any adult will tell you that lying is wrong. But when it comes to avoiding trouble, saving face in front of the boss, or sparing someone's feelings, many people find themselves doing it anyway. In fact, more than 80 percent of women admit to occasionally telling what they consider harmless half-truths, says Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Little White Lies, Deep Dark Secrets: The Truth About Why Women Lie (St. Martin's Press, $15, amazon.com). And 75 percent admit to lying to loved ones about money in particular.

The tendency to tell tales is "a very natural human trait," explains David L. Smith, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy at the University of New England, in Biddeford, Maine. "It lets you manipulate the way you want to be seen by others." To pinpoint how people stretch the truth from time to time and the potential fallout from it, learn the six most common ways that people mislead.

Deception Points
Most lies aren't meant to be hurtful to others; rather, they're meant to help the one doing the fibbing. These are the six top ways people lie.

1. Lying to Save Face

2. Lying to Shift Blame

3. Lying to Avoid Confrontation

4. Lying to Get One's Way

5. Lying to Be Nice

6. Lying to Make Oneself Feel Better
More:
http://lifestyle.msn.com/your-life/bigger-picture/articlers.aspx?cp-documentid=19988748&page=3

[DarkTirade]

1. Then there's the occasional 'lying for entertainment' 'lying because you're a compulsive liar' ect.

[suninvited]

2. My older sister is a compulsive liar

she does it to entertain and become the center of attention. She will take minor details of some true occurance and jazz it up so much that it hardly resembles what really happened.

I havent seen her in years, so I dont know if she still does this, but it took me years to realize (and it was only after I was told) that her very exciting and entertaining stories that she told all the time were made up.

She was, however, a very good storyteller.

[DarkTirade]

3. I've known people who have done that a little bit

but none that I would go quite so far as to call 'compulsive liars'. Usually it was just the occasional attempt to make themselves seem more interesting. :P

[jeff30997]

4. About sparing someone's feelings:

Last month I went to the Doctor for a routine check and I asked her if

I looked young for my age (I'll be 42 next month) and she simply replied "no".

Ouch!That was not what I wanted to hear at all.:)

[BridgeTheGap]

5. You certainly don't want to get your Physician in the habit of lying to you...

"Doc, do I have cancer?"

[jeff30997]

6. Lol! Good point.

But I never heard about someone dying for being told that

they look old.:rofl:

[BridgeTheGap]

7. Speaking of looking old (or young, as in this case)

I once read an account given by Deepak Chopra. On becoming a physician, he worked at a psychiatric hospital (in NY I believe) as a resident. He treated a number of catatonic women and noticed the birth dates of a number them, concluded the birth dates must be in error as these women looked far younger. He asked one the shrinks who had been there awhile about this. He told chopra that the birth dates were correct. "Catatonic people have no conception of time and, as a result, age much slower than a normal person."
Maybe so, but being catatonic is a rather major dent on one's quality of life!

[siligut]

8. Good story, but I think he missed to boat.

Catatonic people don’t use their facial muscles, thus no wrinkles. Mystical thinking on the part of Deepak Chopra? I am not surprised.

[Schema Thing]

10. indeed. what a pantload.

did you know that native Americans literally couldn't see the European ships approaching their coastline?


:eyes:

[DS1]

9. Deepak Chopra = quack