4 ms·

Lying is a natural part of Human experience and communication. It's part of the game. Do you not lie to your kids about Santa Claus (or whatever local magical c

by afpx 5y ago

Lying is a natural part of Human experience and communication. It's part of the game. Do you not lie to your kids about Santa Claus (or whatever local magical creature it is)? I rarely have to lie though because most of the time I can leave out information and be just as effective.

bin_bash 5y ago
I’m serious when I say I do not lie. My daughter is only 2 but I plan to simply tell her Santa Claus is a story we like to pretend is real. Frankly I don’t understand why she has to be duped into believing Santa Claus is real at all. Of course she will lie and be lied to, but it won’t come from me.
- afpx 5y ago
  I believe you, I just don’t think it’s realistic for the general population. I am a very honest person (I have a terrible and fierce shame response when I lie). But, I tried to measure it once. I recorded everything that I said for several days with a truth level. I was deceptive more often than I thought I was. For an example, do you not ever get the question, “What are you thinking about?” when your mind is off daydreaming on something potentially shameful? Maybe I just have a lot of shame. IDK.
  - bin_bash 5y ago
    Sam Harris did a great long form essay where he described this concept very well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_(Harris_book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_(Harris_book) He even goes into detail about Santa. EDIT: I think the bit about Santa is only in the audiobook, but he talks about it in this article: https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-high-cost-of-tiny-lies https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-high-cost-of-tiny-lies As far as a question like that, I might not answer it literally truthfully. I’d probably say something like “oh it’s nothing.” Both me and them understand I don’t mean I was literally not thinking about anything, I mean to say I don’t want to talk about it. As long as that’s understood by everyone it’s not false speech.

by afpx 5y ago

bin_bash 5y ago

I’m serious when I say I do not lie. My daughter is only 2 but I plan to simply tell her Santa Claus is a story we like to pretend is real. Frankly I don’t understand why she has to be duped into believing Santa Claus is real at all. Of course she will lie and be lied to, but it won’t come from me.

afpx 5y ago
I believe you, I just don’t think it’s realistic for the general population. I am a very honest person (I have a terrible and fierce shame response when I lie). But, I tried to measure it once. I recorded everything that I said for several days with a truth level. I was deceptive more often than I thought I was. For an example, do you not ever get the question, “What are you thinking about?” when your mind is off daydreaming on something potentially shameful? Maybe I just have a lot of shame. IDK.
- bin_bash 5y ago
  Sam Harris did a great long form essay where he described this concept very well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_(Harris_book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lying_(Harris_book) He even goes into detail about Santa. EDIT: I think the bit about Santa is only in the audiobook, but he talks about it in this article: https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-high-cost-of-tiny-lies https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-high-cost-of-tiny-lies As far as a question like that, I might not answer it literally truthfully. I’d probably say something like “oh it’s nothing.” Both me and them understand I don’t mean I was literally not thinking about anything, I mean to say I don’t want to talk about it. As long as that’s understood by everyone it’s not false speech.