socialy retarded

The honest liar (part 1)

Posted on 02. Jul, 2007 by Derrick in Philosophy

Part 1 (The warm blanket of lying)

Truth and honesty seem to be overrated these days. More and more the news shows society that even the most righteous people lie and deceive. Essential to our humanity but disowned by its perpetrators, lying is normal, natural, and pervasive. Human society is nothing less than a network of lies that would collapse under the weight of too much honesty.

Philosophers have differed on the subject. Some maintain that lying is wrong, period (Augustine, Kant); some theorize that lying can be as good as it is natural (Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Wilde). David Smith actually speaks of the “Machiavellian module” which has evolved in the human brain.

Cognitive scientist David Smith thinks that humanity has been a species of habitual liars right from the get-go, today as much as ever before. We deceive others and ourselves all the time, because it’s advantageous to do so as a species. “As humans, we must fit into a close-knit social system to succeed, yet our primary aim is to look out for ourselves above all others. Lying helps.” wrote Smith. Survival of the fittest.

A study I had seen in a sociology class showed 60% of people tell on average 3 lies for every ten minutes of conversation. The frequency applies to men and women equally, though the sexes tend to lie about different things: men to make themselves look better, women to make others feel good. This has in view all types of lies: socially acceptable lies (normally not considered lies), unacceptable lies (blatant or bald-faced lies), lies of omission (silent lies), and many other forms of deception.

Self-deception is by far the most useful lie of them all. Since none of us wants to admit we deceive ourselves (which is part of the self-deceiving process). But lying to ourselves is essential, says Smith, because it soothes the stresses of life, and in the process helps us lie efficiently to others. The unconscious region of the brain, where truth can be effectively obscured, makes this possible.

Lying to ourselves promotes psychological well-being, My class research showed that depressed people deceived themselves less than those who are mentally healthy. Depressives, indeed, have a better grasp on reality than most people, self-knowledge isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Self-deception relieves us from a sense that we’re constantly living in contradiction. We each have a set of values that we constantly violate. When you’re aware of transgressing one of those values that you hold dear, you tend to feel bad about yourself. In deceiving ourselves, we relieve ourselves of that burden, making life a lot easier and lot more pleasant for ourselves. if we convince ourselves we’re not really lying, we can lie far more effectively than might otherwise be the case. All of our social lies, like a fake smile, involve the manipulation of how others see us. Our lives are saturated with pretense and dishonesty.

The trick lies in balancing lying and honesty in appropriate measures. Deception and self-deception are obviously not always advantageous. Furthermore, it’s necessary to be economical with lies, otherwise lying would become self-defeating. For example: the “boy who cried wolf” syndrome.

None of this addresses the morality of lying and deception, only their naturality.( I will address the morality of lying in part 2 of my blog) The point is that lying and deception are perfectly normal, and necessary for the sake of mental health. To lie and deceive is hardwired into the human race, and that it becomes stronger in specific contexts. Honor-shame cultures and the postmodern climate, for different reasons, summon even more deceptions from humanity.

If we’re stuck with being a race of liars and deceivers, we can at least be truthful enough to acknowledge it. We can stop pretending that honesty is attainable to the degree other virtues are like compassion, justice, and wisdom, or that it’s necessarily a virtue at all. Honesty actually has very little to do with morality. To imply that something is wrong because it’s dishonest is about as meaningful as saying that something is wrong because it’s unnatural.

Lying is as natural as breathing, bred into our DNA. Humans evolved to lie. To be continued…..

- D

Tags: lying, moral compas