Lying to protect another's feelings

As I am sitting here blogging I am also watching a television show called "Jane the Virgin." In this episode one of the main characters had kissed someone else even though she has a boyfriend. In the beginning, right after the kiss happened she had planned to tell her boyfriend about the kiss. Once the opportunity presented itself to tell the truth her boyfriend had finally said the words that she had been waiting for "I love you." After hearing those words the character decided that it would be better not to tell her boyfriend about the kiss in order to protect the feelings he has for her and to protect herself. This is not a direct lie but it is a lie by omission. This lie is working so far because her boyfriend is choosing to ignore the signs that something is wrong and is cooperating in order to keep their relationship the way it is.

Over exaggerating

Over exaggeration happens all of the time, it is one of the most common lies and deceptions. Plenty of people over exaggerate to make a point, to make a situation seem worse/better than it is, and many more reasons. Some common over exaggerations are "I am so hungry I could eat a horse" or "I feel like I just ate a ton." Obviously these are lies because no one can eat a horse or eat a ton of food, it is physically impossible. These lies work because the person telling them cooperates with it and choose to believe that they are telling the truth.

Easter Bunny

In my earlier blog about Santa Clause we found out that the parents were the liar and the kids cooperated with the lie. After Santa Clause is discovered to be a lie the Easter Bunny soon follows. Once the kids stop cooperating with the lie of Santa Clause they stop cooperating with all of the other lies their parents tell them.

Lying to ourselves

Whenever we think of lying we think of lying to someone else. However, we also lie to ourselves on the daily. Personally, I lie to myself when I set my alarm for 8 but actually don't wake up until 9. Everyday though I tell myself I am going to get up at 8 and I am going to be productive before I have to get ready for class. I am lying to myself because I know I won't get up until 9 but I still cooperate with the lie and set my alarm for 8. Lies like this happen everyday. Whether its I don't want that chocolate cake when you really do want it or saying you'll just watch one more episode of netflix, we lie to ourselves everyday.

Santa Clause

Santa Clause is a popular person amongst kids. Santa Clause is an even more popular lie amongst those adults. For years parents have been lying to their kids saying that Santa Clause is a real person when in reality the parents are Santa Clause. Now personally, I don't think this is a bad lie to tell. Feeling that excitement when Christmas season comes around, hoping to catch a peek at Santa Clause, writing him letters, its all a good time. This is the one lie that I believe is okay to tell because it is apart of everyone's childhood and gives joy and hope to children.

Lying By Omission

Have you ever told a story and left out information because you didn't want the other person to know that part? Did you consider this a lie? If you didn't consider this a lie then you are wrong. Leaving out information would be a lie by omission. There are many reasons to leave out information when telling other people something. The main reasoning is what they don't know won't hurt them, right? Wrong. A lie by omission is still just as bad as a regular lie. You're still fudging the truth and not telling the other person the whole story.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes. There are so many stereotypes in today's society, from dumb blondes to asians being good at math and everywhere in between. The real question is, are stereotypes a form of lying? In my personal opinion they are lies. Every stereotype has the ability to be disproven. There needs to be just one person in the world to break the stereotype in order for it to become a lie. In reality, stereotypes only exist because we choose to cooperate with the lie about that group of people. So if we stopped cooperating with the lies then the stereotypes would stop and we would no longer have to keep disproving them.