Lies are a development from ancient times.
Animals can deceive to escape danger.
They can also deceive to gain favors, either food or sex.
We can use lies in exactly the same ways - to escape danger or to gain something we don't feel that we could get honestly.
Little lies and exaggerations are used everyday.
These help us act diplomatically.
When we engage in wishful thinking, we tell little lies to encourage ourselves to try make them true.
Lying about important issues, however, is not really a sensible way to live for intelligent beings like us. Can you imagine how well the space program would work if everyone there felt they had to lie about the work that they did?
How many astronauts would volunteer to go up in spacecraft that were built by people who lied about what work was finished properly and what still needed to be tested?
Our cellphones work with satellites. Do you think they would work so well if people who made them lied about their work?
Do you think we would be healthy if people lied about the food that they grow and sell to everyone else?
How much would we know about the world if people lied about the facts that they found?
What about the other technology that we all use?
What would we know if teachers lied to their students?
What if everyone lied freely?
Could we enjoy the good things that we use to make our lives better?
If banks lied about keeping your money safe, would you use them?
If you generally couldn't trust people, how good would your life be?
Even liars don't like it when other people lie to them!
To tell the truth here, all this talk of lying is starting to sound rather depressing.
Actually, do you think that perhaps we do indeed have too many serious lies in our world?
After all, there are a lot of things that don't work as well as people say they do.
Would we all enjoy life better if we knew how to get along without lies?
Try this exercise:
Find a subject for this experiment.
Choose to yourself a friend, a family member or a favorite pet whom you actually love very much.
You don't need them with you for this experiment.
Just keep them in mind.
Now find a colleague to help you with the experiment.
Ask them to watch you carefully.
Tell your colleague a lie about your chosen subject whom you actually like very much.
Say to your colleague that you actually hate your subject.
Make up a detailed explanation of why you hate them.
Make up stories that justify your hatred of your subject.
Note: Some people won't even want to try to do this!
Now feel what this little act does to your body in general.
Feel the tension especially in your breathing and your belly.
Ask your colleague for their observations.
In nature, lying is a strategy to improve chances for success. It's a clever way for individuals to compensate for relative powerlessness. It's not considered as the optimal way to live everyday life with one's peers, friends and family. Unfortunately, we can get into the habit of lying, and this distorts us. Lying twists us up inside. If we tell children lies, this distorts their minds. If we make conditions that influence our children to lie in order to get along, their psychological development suffers tremendously.
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