Is lying a human necessity?

Question

Is it?

By lying I mean "that speech which do not represent factual truths, but are brings invented ideas to achieve certain porposes."

Is this act a necessity for all of us in any time and in any place?

Tnx!


ie - brazil

Answer 1

I wouldn't say neccessary, but in some cases, it helps. In others, it hurts.

For ex. Your younger sibling approaches you and asks you how their drawing is. It isn't exactly Picasso. But, why would you say that to your sibling? In this case, you'd have to lie.

But, in other cases such as the ones where you break something and blame the cat, that's very uneccessary and usually a waste of time since your parents/relatives/etc. would probably eventually find out and make your punishment worse than it would've been.

Answer 2

Lying is a way of manipulating people. If a person does not think being honest will give a good result then they may lie. It's all about controlling what others think and how they will react.

Many times small lies do little harm. But few are really completely harmless. As in when someone asks "How was your day?". If you had a bad day, but don't want to complain, you may say, "My day was fine." even though it wasn't. That kind of lie does almost no harm.

Lying about important things can cause more serious problems. However, if you don't trust someone, you may not want them to know the truth. The truth can be used to harm others also. Being honest with an enemy or competitor can cause damage. Knowledge is power, as they say. But if that knowledge is incorrect, then it lacks power.

Given the complex nature of human interactions, lying does seem to be a necessity - to one degree or another - and for lesser of greater reasons.

If we all stopped talking could we still lie?

Answer 3

Because as a species we were not given claws, tusks, horns, or fangs, we were compensated with pure sneakiness. Lying and treachery are unfortunate by products of that.

But lying is NEVER a necessity. Personally I would rather know what someone really thinks as opposed to what they think I want to hear. Even if it hurts at least I know where I stand, which is far more valuable than living in a dream world.

If you are a Christian then you might remember the scripture.
"Wo unto the liar, for he will be thrust into hell"

Not placed, not persuaded, not nudged, THRUST, Honestly that one fact has inspired me to be more truthful more than anything else.

Answer 4

In some cases, yes. In most cases, no.

Telling the truth is always something ethical and morally right. And everyone says they want to hear the truth but I think there are many people who cannot handle the truth in certain situations.

I think it is sometimes necessary to tell harmless white lies to people you don't quite know, i.e. if your classmate/co-worker asks you whether he/she looks good and you really know he/she doesn't, it is probably better to tell a white lie. Esp. people of a high authority. You may say its "bootlicking" etc, but sometimes, being too truthful in such instances is not a very bright idea.

But to people who matter, the truth should be told, simply because you want the best for the person etc. I.e. to change a bad habit of your best friend.

Certain lies are necessary. Of course, it should be avoided most of the time, if not our entire lifes would end up as a big fat lie in itself.

Answer 5

One lie leads to another, and another... because one would have to continue lying to cover up the first lie. The intention is always to deceive the listener, for any reason. It is not a necessity, but a human weakness. And it is defenitely not the right thing to do. Lying betrays the trust of the listener and hurts human relationships.

Answer 6

Lying. Not a necessity, but great fun.

Except for lying to that one special person. By default, if you lie to the one you love, they can no longer fully know the real you (if they don't find out) and no longer trust you (if they do find out). And you'll have proven to not respect them all that much by lying in the first place. You'll have lost that one friendship, companionship, bond, that makes it all worthwhile. It'll be meaningless from that point onwards. It negates any possibility of TRUE love, and TRUE happiness.

In short, lie all you want. And enjoy it. Except for where it truly matters to be you, all of you and the best of you, for those that deserve that side of you. A very wise - and hot - man once said: "Heroes and villains aren't the stuff of storybooks, they're in all of us. In short, life is a fairytale, make it yours."

Play the villain for a while, but know when to be the hero.

Answer 7

You know, there's this thing called the Turing test. It's supposed to determine whether a computer has true intelligence, by observing whether a human mistakes the machine for another human over a chat system. Therefore, a computer must be able to lie in order to be considered intelligent (and thus human)! And that was established by one of the greatest minds in the 20th century...

Answer 8

Some people can't take the truth. So they are let down easy by one of the many forms of evasion including lying.

Answer 9

Not at all. The Native Americans never even knew of the concept until the Europeans arrived.

Answer 10

Not a necessity, but unfortunately a human trait and far too common