5 ms·
That level of lying would be too painful for me, even given the success that might come from it. As an engineer whose job it is to make reliable systems, I have
by pingswept 17y ago
That level of lying would be too painful for me, even given the success that might come from it. As an engineer whose job it is to make reliable systems, I have strong feelings about the truth. I don't want to behave like that, and I don't want to be around people who do.
- tungstenfurnace 17y agoI know what you mean; I couldn't do it either. However, he confessed his lie, and now he works making movies. They're lies too! They're fictional. Yet good things -- including important truths -- come out of them. Richard Branson confesses in his autobiography how he started his business career with lies. He would phone up a bank and try to sell advertising space in his student magazine by claiming that a rival bank had already bought space and that they should get in on the action.
- iamwil 17y agoI remember my dad telling me about different kinds of businesses one can start. He told me about a family friend that's running a pawn shop, and is rather successful at it. I asked him why he never went into the pawn shop business. My dad told me that wasn't a business he'd be able to do by his nature. I realized a while later that what he meant was that there's lots of ways to make money, but not all of them will sit well with you. Each industry has its cultural values and accepted norms. Everyone's different with the ethical decisions that crop up in business's edge cases. You'll want to pick one that suits your nature so you can sleep at night. Of course, business is all one gray area. While we may all bend the rules a bit for an advantage, beware those that do it too much. What you do attracts those you run with. I remember reading in Tao of Warren Buffet saying something to the extent of (not exact quote) "Pick those that are smart, hardworking, and ethical to work with. Especially the last one, because if that isn't there, the first two are going to kill you."
- olliesaunders 17y agoIt may have been a lie but I enjoyed that lie. When a girl asks you if she looks pretty (and she doesn't), do you tell the truth? The morality of lies is a matter of individual perception. That subjectivity is making me less and less concerned about whether it is right or wrong to lie. These days I think in cost/benefit trade-offs. The trade-off in this story was a good one, his reputation doesn't seem to have taken any damage.
- PieSquared 17y agoAugh! I'm seeing this more and more. This was a fine comment. It was not a troll; it was not rude. I personally don't agree with it, but voting is not for agreement or disagreement. That's what responses are for. Don't downvote comments which aren't trollish or otherwise rude just because you disagree with them. (Background: this comment was downvoted. I've seen this happen at least 5 times in the past two days, it annoyed me, I commented.)
- javert 17y agoIn general, I agree with you. But you can downvote for dishonesty in a comment, and the poster is advocating dishonesty. Not the same thing, but related. I think an argument can be made that that particular comment crossed the line and can be downvoted. For example, you said that you believe a comment can be downvoted for being rude. I agree. But advocating dishoesty, I think, is far worse than being rude.
- PieSquared 17y agoNah. Advocating dishonesty is okay. It's a legit point of view, if you don't like it, say so. He wasn't being dishonest, after all, only advocating it. Also, it's ironic that your comment was downvoted.
- nostrademons 17y agoSo, if a girl asks you if she looks pretty, and you think she doesn't, what do you tell her?