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"I can't really think of a single example where lying is actually a good thing" Lying to save a life or rape Lying to preserve a childhood myth like Santa Cla

by ipaddr 19d ago

"I can't really think of a single example where lying is actually a good thing" Lying to save a life or rape Lying to preserve a childhood myth like Santa Claus. Lying to avoid hurting someones feeling when knowing the truth could only bring pain Lying to create shared cultural myths to strength society. Lying isn't the harm you make it out to be.

bloppe 19d ago
Lying to the bad guys to save the good guys sounds great. Too bad everybody thinks that they are the good guys.
- jrecursive 19d ago
  They most certainly do not.
  - fc417fc802 19d ago
    What an enlightening comment. Have you ever met anyone who genuinely believed himself to be doing bad things? I don't mean in some cynical sense but literally. Even when we portray overly simplified villains in comic books there's still consistently some justification behind their actions.
    - jrecursive 15d ago
      Yes. There are arguments to be made here about belief, judgement and justification, but overwhelming evidence points to people who knowingly do things that even they themselves consider "bad" as being simply indifferent.
gwd 19d ago
> Lying to preserve a childhood myth like Santa Claus. FWIW from the very beginning, I told my son that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny were just a game we all played, and it's seemed just as fun to me. I don't think being lied to about Santa Claus hurt me, but still I'm not in favor of it. I'd lie to a Nazi without a second thought though.
nullbio 19d ago
If you need to lie to someone to save a life or rape, society is already too far gone and this no longer applies. > Lying to preserve a childhood myth like Santa Claus. I remember when I learned that SC wasn't real, my first thought was something like: "Why did my parents lie to me all this time? Now I will need to be skeptical of what they tell me in the future." - personally not a fan of it. > Lying to avoid hurting someones feeling when knowing the truth could only bring pain Short term pain leads to strengthening of the spirit, and by lying to someone in this scenario you are robbing them of something. You're also assuming they aren't fit enough to cope, which may be an incorrect assumption. > Lying to create shared cultural myths to strength society. Cultural myths aren't aren't really lies, they're story telling. It comes with an assumption of being a mix of fiction with fact.

by ipaddr 19d ago

bloppe 19d ago

Lying to the bad guys to save the good guys sounds great. Too bad everybody thinks that they are the good guys.

jrecursive 19d ago
They most certainly do not.
- fc417fc802 19d ago
  What an enlightening comment. Have you ever met anyone who genuinely believed himself to be doing bad things? I don't mean in some cynical sense but literally. Even when we portray overly simplified villains in comic books there's still consistently some justification behind their actions.
  - jrecursive 15d ago
    Yes. There are arguments to be made here about belief, judgement and justification, but overwhelming evidence points to people who knowingly do things that even they themselves consider "bad" as being simply indifferent.

gwd 19d ago

> Lying to preserve a childhood myth like Santa Claus. FWIW from the very beginning, I told my son that Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny were just a game we all played, and it's seemed just as fun to me. I don't think being lied to about Santa Claus hurt me, but still I'm not in favor of it. I'd lie to a Nazi without a second thought though.

nullbio 19d ago

If you need to lie to someone to save a life or rape, society is already too far gone and this no longer applies. > Lying to preserve a childhood myth like Santa Claus. I remember when I learned that SC wasn't real, my first thought was something like: "Why did my parents lie to me all this time? Now I will need to be skeptical of what they tell me in the future." - personally not a fan of it. > Lying to avoid hurting someones feeling when knowing the truth could only bring pain Short term pain leads to strengthening of the spirit, and by lying to someone in this scenario you are robbing them of something. You're also assuming they aren't fit enough to cope, which may be an incorrect assumption. > Lying to create shared cultural myths to strength society. Cultural myths aren't aren't really lies, they're story telling. It comes with an assumption of being a mix of fiction with fact.