Lying is acceptable/unacceptable.

[Stigmata]

Lying is a survival skill. Lying is more and more necessary pending on the situation, whether your life is in danger, or you're just working as an exotic dancer.

Eh. I wouldn't say it's a survival skill so much as it's a tactic. Lying is not integral to sustaining myself or in preserving the integrity of my surroundings, it's merely an option that is at times both logical and viable.

On the other hand, actively lying to people whom you have real relationships with - friends, family, significant others - is always wrong, IMO.

Always telling the truth is stupid, but lying to people who you have genuine relationships with is totally destructive and immoral.

Can you explain "actively" lying? And also, why does the relationship depth have any bearing on whether lying is a positive or a negative? I'm not really seeing how the severity of the action changes due to interpersonal connections. Lies are all equally deceptive in nature despite to whom they're addressed toward and the intentions in doing so.

 

[Thalassa]

I disagree strongly. Intention and impact to do harm is everything.

Lying because I am in danger, or don't want some creeper at the club stalking me, is a perfectly legitimate reason to lie, and it would be incredibly stupid not to. Also, if my (or someone else's) personal safety will be put at risk by being honest to a crazy, abusive partner, this is not only advisable, but in some cases absolutely necessary unless you're some kind of martyr-doormat, which I am not, and I don't think anyone else should be, either. Behold my Fi/Te rather than Fe.

However, by "actively" lying, I mean intentionally fabricating tales to deceive a person you care about or who cares about you. In that case, it is destructive and immoral, and has no basis in survival.

Things like lying and stealing are survival skills, yes they are. They're primitive, logical modes of survival.

If you don't think lying is ever necessary to your well-being, apparently your life has been quite comfortable and danger-free.

 

[Stigmata]

Things like lying and stealing are survival skills, yes they are. They're primitive, logical modes of survival.

If you don't think lying is ever necessary to your well-being, apparently your life has been quite comfortable and danger-free.

I guess this is just a difference of opinion. As I said earlier, I see it as an option, and sometimes a perfectly legitimate option, yet never absolute necessity. Claiming it as a necessity implies the existence of scenarios in which the path is linear and lying is the only possible method of survival, or that somehow that survival and lying are directly tied together in and of themselves rather than the outcome being a result of a conscious decision.

 

[Lark]

On an attendent topic or point, I couldnt see anyone practicing radical honesty like the character in "Lie To Me" who would not be made totally miserable by the experience in real life.

 

[ThatGirl]

On an attendent topic or point, I couldnt see anyone practicing radical honesty like the character in "Lie To Me" who would not be made totally miserable by the experience in real life.

There is a difference between lying and saying nothing at all. Just because you speak the truth doesn't mean you need to speak every truth you think of.

 

[citizen cane]

Lying when there is an advantage to all parties involved is perfectly fine. If a lie will create a significant possibility of harm or increase the level of harm, it is wrong. Otherwise, it is subjective. This also applies to the omission of information.

 

[ThatGirl]

Lying when there is an advantage to all parties involved is perfectly fine. If a lie will create a significant possibility of harm or increase the level of harm, it is wrong. Otherwise, it is subjective.

When is lying beneficial to all parties involved?

In my experience, the truth always comes out sooner or later. The sooner it does, the less time is wasted.

 

[figsfiggyfigs]

So I was thinking about this earlier, and I realized I would not equate online lying to real-life lying... Of course, depending on what you're lying about( Ie, A Bank form vs. an online forum).
Online lying would not really have any real-life consequence, where as, irl, as tg sad, " the truth will always come out".

hmm

 

[Betty Blue]

So I was thinking about this earlier, and I realized I would not equate online lying to real-life lying... Of course, depending on what you're lying about( Ie, A Bank form vs. an online forum).
Online lying would not really have any real-life consequence, where as, irl, as tg sad, " the truth will always come out".

hmm

To be honest, i'd prefer to lie on a bank form than to someone i have a rap with on this forum. I don't think much of banks in general, they are not people but institutions and therefor have no feelings... as for the forgery/fraud side of things
Meh, iv'e done worse.

 

[Not_Me]

Lying is not OK in situations where there is the desire to build a relationship of trust. However, in a purely adversarial scenarios, it would foolish not to reserve the right to lie. There is nothing immoral about it. In fact, I would not trust a person who was incapable of lying under any circumstance because anything I tell them in confidence will likely become public knowledge.

 

[mmhmm]

i tell lies everyday. can't help it.
i can sleep twice a day.

 

[guesswho]

Personally, I think it's all dependent on the context of the lie and circumstance rather than being able to make an absolute ruling on the matter.

This.

What do you think of the act of "lying"?

It depends on the context.

What would you consider a white/black lie.

Why should lies be white/black?

is it necessary for survival?

It depends on the context.

Do you find lying cowardly?

It depends on the context.

Are there benefits to lying?

It depends on the context.

Does anyone firmly believe in the saying that " The Truth Will Set You Free" ?

No. And besides...even when someone says yes, they will probably interpret it in a different way. Even though we see one sentence, we understand it in different ways. What is "the truth", and what is "freedom"?

 

[citizen cane]

When is lying beneficial to all parties involved?

In my experience, the truth always comes out sooner or later. The sooner it does, the less time is wasted.

Let's say someone is nagging you to get some task done right now, they way they think it should be done. An example that comes to mind being a college student living with my parents is if one of my parents knows I have some project/ paper to work on but I'm doing something else. I may know full well that I can get the assigment done with plenty of time left before the due date and be doing something more fun at the moment, so I lie. There's no harm done on my (or any given student's) part- and the parent stops worrying.

This is probably the lamest/ least creative example of this ever, but it works.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

Lying is not something I'm fond of, but it can buy time in a critical situation for a good cause. The old extreme example is the man threatening you at gun point to tell you the location of someone they intend to murder.

 

[Blank]

The murderer at the door allegory is only really a viable solution when you have a god or supernatural being that can save you/your friend's skin. A better, real-life example of the murderer at the door scenario would be: Would you lie to a Nazi during WWII about harboring Jews in your home?

 

[swordpath]

Lying is wrong in all forms, but the severity depends on the particular instance. I wouldn't ever say it's right to do, but sometimes necessary... Maintaining good status in a relationship is sometimes a better alternative to telling someone that they do indeed suck at something, or that they look ugly. I view lying in any form as cowardice, and I am most certainly a coward. I just prefer to be a lesser coward.

 

[rav3n]

With what I do as an occupation, I have to deal with clients daily. Some of their employees aren't very bright or are so self-protectionist (which includes job, dept, old ways of doing things, etc.) that it's not funny. So sometimes the truth would be "you're a fucking idiot, get your head out of your ass, no I will not amend this document to consider the 0.1% whereby the 99.9% have already been considered". What I say to them is more along the lines of "you might want to discuss this with your [insert superior who can slap them upside the head] to see if they can help you with your concerns".

So some might consider this lying by omission, where others will consider it tactful.

 

[Valiant]

I thinky lying is bad, most of the time. Withholding truth is pretty much necessary... And little white lies in relationships.
If you told someone everything you were thinking, or if they ask you if they look fat in something... Yeah, well, if something would hurt something that is important to you, white lies are necessary.
But I don't think that lying should be done by the rulers of state, regarding state business.

 

[Magic Poriferan]

The murderer at the door allegory is only really a viable solution when you have a god or supernatural being that can save you/your friend's skin.

...why?

 

[redacted]

There's a hierarchy of morals, and telling the truth definitely isn't the most important one. Maximizing your ethical output should be the goal.

In other words, tell the truth unless there's a different option that would increase ethical output.