I've found that people fall along a spectrum of conscience that determines how bad you feel when you lie (independent of the consequences). Where you fall on t

I've found that people fall along a spectrum of conscience that determines how bad you feel when you lie (independent of the consequences). Where you fall on this spectrum is determined by a combination of genetics, family values, and societal values. There are people who don't feel bad about lying in any situation e.g. sociopaths and pscyopaths. There are people who only feel bad lying in certain situations (the situations that society doesn't give a pass to). Then, there are people who feel bad lying in all situations (typically, bc of the values they inherited from their parents and upbringing). I say all this because I think the optimal behavior when it comes to lying frequency is entirely dependent on where you fall on this spectrum. If you are a psycopath, you can be happy with a code of conduct that allows frequent lying and covering up your lies. If you feel terrible about lying in all situations, then you shouldn't lie at all. Unless you do really hard work on changing your value structure, you're sort of tied to a solution, and if you want to be happy, it behooves you to follow it.