The truth between the lies
The Truth Between The Lies
Lying is inevitable. We see it in our everyday lives. We see it in the moments we used to tell our mothers we were done with our homework. We witness it pour out of the mouths of politicians. We even see it in those that we trust the most. Little white lies are the most common, outward lies are often less common; even so they are both considered lies. Lies come in many degrees, but their purpose is the same, lies are meant to deceive. Stephanie Ericsson plunges deep into this subject. She mentions in her article “The Ways We Lie” that a lie, whether in good faith or not is never a good thing to do. The result of a lie is always something hurtful. Ericsson says that as bad as lies are, telling the truth all the time is nearly impossible. Doing so would mean dealing with some harsh consequences, so we decide to just lie instead. In many nations lies are the status quo, they are both hidden and public. Many people though either don’t bother to point them or are not even aware of them in the first place.
One type of lie is group thinking: this is when a group suppresses different, creative, or complicated ideas that unlikely to happen. By only considering some ideas and not others it leads to an ignorant sense of loyalty to the group and a not so smart final decision. For example, in Dec, 5, 1941, after many warnings about the Japanese planning a military attack the U.S just dismissed it as a fluke. The United States reasoned that since they couldn’t build a torpedo no other country could. Soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor was reported, the country fell into a state of shock. They were utterly confused on how non-Americans, and not to mention non-whites could be smarter than them (Ericsson, 169). If the U.S would have considered the warnings and taken the necessary precautions instead of ignoring the plain facts then perhaps they could have avoided the attack. Likewise, people who believe that black men are dangerous, or women belong only at home haven’t considered any alternatives. They haven’t gone and explored for themselves or even questioned the ideas proposed to them. This is often the case with racism and sexism. They have decided to believe blindly in a stereotype, and in result have lost their originality and doomed themselves to a costly consequence.
When we look deeply into the cause of racism, specifically the discrimination of black men in the United States we see that is really complex. The black man never said he wanted to be abused, ashamed and looked down upon. Even so he was, and he never got to decide how great he could become, it was the general public that decided it. Even though African American people were taken as slaves in the past, mistreated and deprived of natural rights it is them that are perceived as dangerous criminals. Which when common sense is used makes no sense at all, but that alternative idea only comes into play when group thinking doesn’t.
Group thinking is the main cause of racism, and media is the main source of group thinking. It’s much, much easier to accept the ideas given to us from the media then to draw our own conclusions. So in the past when all that was on the media was all white sitcoms and famous white people without a colored person in sight, what message does that give to the general public? When in this ‘Great’ country it wasn’t until 2008 that a non white president was elected, what message does that hand to the public? So the country as a whole basically decided that black people simply weren’t good enough as whites, without discussing the alternatives. In result we have automatically adopted group thinking and disowned originality.
Another example of this ignorant adoption is the idea that women are meant to be housewives and nothing else. It’s amazing how for a very long time society has held down women with stereotypical notions of submissiveness and household duties. These ideas were accepted nationwide; again, people accepted this theory without even thinking of how women felt or if it was the right thing to do. When asked why, people would respond with, “It’s always been this way,” as if that was a legitimate excuse. So women fought against it for years but it took a very long time to change things
This concept of lying to make a whole country against one particular group in order to make them perceive in the way you want is deceitful and not only promotes racism but it also is the core of abusing women’s rights. These two can be tied closely together. People who were hungry for power introduced racism and sexism to the general public. These people, men of course, were adamant on keeping women home. Some might say that the role of women was decided through the bible and even if it wasn’t through that then it was through their role of being a mother, but this is not true. Women are just as capable of men, and can achieve anything that they can. This thought that women were weak was exactly what pinned down women’s rights for many, many years.
What I find extremely interesting is that even within movements to change group thinking there is an amazing amount of group thinking. Being a woman is not limited to being only white, it is something that can be found in any race, but this rebellion was made by and for white middle class women. So the notion that black women were less than white women was still a significant role even within this movement. Sojourner truth can attest to this, she says, “I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman” (Truth, feminist). It’s disappointing to see that even when trying to fight for the right thing it can always be tainted with the ugliness of racism, and that group thinking is almost always present in some way or form.
Lying in general has a lot of consequences but group thinking specifically is the source of unoriginality, racial discrimination and abuse of women’s rights. This type of lying where a group decides that all facts will be ignored for the sake of the group is destructive. It requires a large amount of ego and ignorance to carry out and its effects are treacherous, like Ericsson said, “When someone lies, someone loses,” (Ericsson, 165). This is apparent in all of the struggles minorities have been made to go through, that people of color and women were made to go through. In conclusion, there will always be lies, and there will always be groups to try to convince you to think one way. Our job as people and creative human beings with intellect is to decide for ourselves who and what we follow, and to dig deep into matters that may seem small because lies come in all sizes and shapes.

Reasons why people lie
Lying is sometimes a result from a barrier that is unable to overcome in a organization. These barriers can be talking on the phone, sending emails, gossip, ect. There are many things that a person can lie about in an organization. They could lie about a mistake they made, take credit for something they did not do, lie about communicating internally/externally, or just to save themselves from being punished. These lies are a way to protect ones self from being viewed as a bad asset to the company or organization.
Many times when a person is lying to cover up for something they will throw in some curve balls. These curve balls can be true statements or actions the person says in their lie to make it seem more true. For example, if an employee is lying about sending out a shipment late, they may say that the shipment order was filled out and completed and delivered, but it was not delivered. The truth of filling out the shipping document is true but delivering the document is a lie. This little truth in ones lie may make them feel better about the lie and make it more believable.
I have not really experienced someone lying to me in a workplace situation but I assume it would be very difficult. It is hard to tell someone that they are lying and get the truth out of them. The only case I can think of was I had a member in a group for school who continuously lied about being late to meeting and not showing up for class. At first I believed him but after a few weeks I realized he was lying. I never did call him out for not showing up and lying but it backfired. During a presentation the group member never showed up and hurt our grade greatly.
The white lie perpetuates itself in our daily lives; in our relationships, in our homes and at our jobs. It is a poisonous seed that once set, can stem disastrous outcomes. Everyone has used the little white lie at some point, but it is however, the work of arrogance and deceit, and brings about distrust, self degradation, and pain. We think that white lies are harmless; nothing would come of them. The grave reality is that this seemingly harmless lie is the root of even more complex, sinister grievances that we may have never thought ourselves capable of.
The white lie’s favorite meal is a relationship. It grows bigger, gets stronger and wreaks the most havoc here. For example, as a male, I always assume that my girlfriend wants to hear that she looks beautiful and that everything about her appearance is flawless. It just seems so much easier to throw out a, “You look wonderful”, than to deal with her glares if I fess up an, “I don’t like that dress.” This white lie however, allows distrust into the relationship. How can I lie to her and yet expect honesty in return? It is hypocrisy. Even though it may seem small and insignificant, the white lie is the impetus for disaster. It becomes increasingly easy to say each time, permitting more and more untruths into the relationship.
These bolstered white lies soon begin to take the form of deflection, omission, stereotyping, out-and-out lies, dismissal and delusion; all upper-class lies that we never thought we would commit. Nevertheless, by simply telling my girlfriend that one white lie, I immediately join a higher order of lying. Is it not stereotyping and cliché to think that a girl only wants to hear that she is the pinnacle of desire? Doesn’t stereotyping mean that we are now in league with the racists and the sexists? The little white lie is so tricky.-studymode.com
Ever since the early age, we have taught that lying is wrong and hurts people including ourselves. Moreover, we also have educated that it is better to accept the consequences of my actions than to lie. However, the more we grow up, the more we know about using of lying because telling the truth cannot always solve the problem. From my point of view, some lying is acceptable, some is not. It depends upon what purposes that make people tell lies.
A white lie is allegedly one which is done for someone's good and which harms no one. There’s no such thing. The philosophical view that allows people to think that lies can be harmless is one which counts the self as nothing morally interesting.
The first point to note is that although telling lie is easy to get things in the short period of time, it will create a bad impression on the next generation as well as it does not give any benefit on long way. For example, if you tell some lies to the children such as smoking doesn't effect on everyone around, what will they learn in their future? It is dangerous for us to aware of wrong way because of adult. Another point I would like to mention is that if we always cheat others many times, one day our lie will befall upon us and will lose prestige in our relationships. The story telling about a shepherd rearing his sheep is typical example. He cheats villagers many times that there was wolf on the hill. When they ran to save him but found no wolf, they became angry with him. And then when the wolf really came, no one bothered him. Finally, the wolf attacked his sheep and also killed him. It was due to his own sin that he got the kill.

A 'perfect world' is usually imagined as a world with no lies, but to many people's disappointment, the world can never be perfect. This is because the majority of the people in the world has lied or will lie at one point in their life, even though they can just be white lies. The main reason why people usually lie is for protection.