Why We Lie

Breif Reminder: The article talked about the concept of lying and the reasons behind it. There are "white lies", which arn't meant to hurt people, but rather protect them from the truth. Then there are lies that carry much more severity and may cause the person on the recieving end pain if they find out the truth. The main reason in while people choose to lie is to protect both themselves and the ones they love.

Where does the line that seperates a "white lie" from a deceitful lie fall? 

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

i believe the line that seperates a "white lie" from a deceitful lie falls at, when a person is harming them self or others due to their lie. if a person casualy lies or uses "white lies" it is ok as long as its not to much, and if they lie about them wanting to do something or an action they did not perform, then that maybe going to far.
~jenifer giomblanco~

Anonymous said...

I believe that lying at all is morally wrong, but i believe that sometimes we do it unconsciously. Those "white lies" are those that we tend to say without thinking. As said in the presentation we say those "white lies" in order to compliment someone or to make them feel good. Those deceitful lies are those lies in which i believe cross the line way. I believe that people are better off saying the truth, because many of the time when you lie, you then continue in a circle. Lying about that lie.. and so on. Therefore i believe people should try their best at avoiding lies, and saying the truth.
_Caroline_

Anonymous said...

I think that at the end of the day, lies are lies, no matter if they are considered a "white lie" or a "deceitful lie". Generally, all lies are deceitful. Despite that fact that someone saying they, for example, went to the store already when in fact that didn't, that may not cause long term harm to another person, but the simple fact that the other person is lying, especially over something as silly as that can be difficult to comprehend and leaves those around you no longer able to trust you. The 'Snowball Effect' usually happens, in which you lie to cover up the lies, leaving you in a messy situation and a distorted reality.


~Alicia Tabaka

Anonymous said...

everyone lies. Some people are better at it hten others and others no the right time to lie. THe line between a white line is drawn i think right before an act of violnce, crime, or deviance is about to happen. Its not really ok but more acceptable to tel your parents your going to your friends house but really going to play basketball at the park with other friends over telling your parents your going to your firneds house and realy going into the deep parts of hartford looking for trouble. Whn lieing you have to worry about otheer peoples feeling not just your own because thats whee another line can be crossed. we sometimes lie to protect ourselves or one another and sometimes it works but if you lie it usually makes its worse.


---Nick Lebron---

kelsey said...

i believe all lies are wrong. people shouldn't have to lie to get on with life. i do believe white lies are defiantly more heard of then bigger lies. little white lies i believe we as humans tend to do a lot because we don't think about them sometimes. we may say them to protect someone else from being hurt, we believe were helping them but truthfully in reality were hurting them even more. i believe people shouldn't lie because it gets you nowhere!

Anonymous said...

I believe that there is a huge difference between a white lie and a deceitful lie. Everybody probably lies without realizing it sometimes but other times we do it purposely. When we lie intentionally, sometimes it's just a simple little lie, such as saying that you're fine when really something is wrong. That's not a big deal only because you might not want to talk about it and it's you're own personal problems. It's not going to be necessarily hurtful to someone else. A bigger lie however, when found out will cause many problems. The types of lies that people plan out step by step and eventually they just build up and get bigger will cause a lot of hurt and trust issues. So basically, in my opinion, little "white lies" are just the type of harmless lies that are only to keep certain aspects of your own life or keep someone else's own personal things secret. A deceitful lie would be anything else that can cause severe damage to a relationship; something that was purposely done and that would cause trust issues if discovered.

Cassie DeCorleto

Cally Allen said...

Yes, everyone lies, but do they have to? With this article it separated the need for telling a lie to protect someones feelings, a white lie, and the personal need to always lie. I feel that the line between a white lie and a deceitful one is the reason you are doing it. If you are telling a minor lie to avoid hurting someones feelings then it is acceptable, but if you are telling a lie to intentionally hurt someone, then that is not okay. Some people have lied about everything that it becomes a part of them. They get caught up in so many lies it can not only damage the people they are lying to but at some point it will ruin themselves. I think that this is where the line stops. When you go from occasionally telling a white lie, to becoming a pathological liar and hurting everyone around you. In the end, yes you may need to tell someone a little lie to avoid their feelings, but honesty is the best policy even if it may hurt that persons feelings they will ultimately be thankful that you were the one who told the truth to them.

Anonymous said...

Yes everyone lies, and no matter what anyone says most people always will. I don't care who you are or where you came from chances are you have lied at least once in your life. And i agree that white lies are acceptable to an extent. lying is only acceptable when the lie doesn't harm or do damage to someone or what people might think of them. Sometimes people lie to spite someone and make them look bad or place blame for a wrong doing on someone, these are examples of when its wrong because the lies are hurting somebody.

-Cody Burghoff

Anonymous said...

Everyone lies. Whether it be a little "white lie" or a deceitful lie, everyone at some point in their life will tell a lie. The difference is between those who tell lies once in a while or those who are always lying. The lies that are told once in a while are those that you are trying to keep from your parents or spare someone elses feelings. The ones who are always lying are those that you are obviously trying to keep from other people and cover something up. I do believe that white lies do turn into even bigger lies. The more little lies that you keep telling will grow into the deciteful lies. Me personally, I do believe in honestly is the best policy no matter what the circumstance is. You don't have to intentially tell the truth to hurt someones feelings but you can tell the truth to help someone else.

-- Brianna Maylor :) --

Patrick S said...

The creation of the lie is definitely a method of self-preservation. That being said every lie can be explained if the proper motivation is given. Nonetheless, this does not mean that all lies can be excused. The necessity of lying is now questionable, due to the convenience and forgiveness in the current world. The only existing and reasonable excuse for lying in the modern world still remains protection of one's self, but on the daily basis this is not due immediate mortal danger, but rather danger in the face of a social or moral decision. Thus remains a complicated moral and psychological issue, being that it has far outlived it's usefulness for society.