...Stephanie Ericsson analyzes various types of lying in “The Ways We Lie” and believes we would be less tolerant of these lies if we stop telling them ourselves. Ericsson includes several ways that we lie in our everyday lives such as Facades, Deflecting, Groupthink, Delusion, and many others. These forms of deception are found heavily scattered throughout pop culture, specifically literature. In the short essay “Shooting an Elephant,” George Orwell depicts a man burdened with the lies he gives because of his job in Burma as a British soldier. According to Stephanie Ericsson, one way that we lie to ourselves and others is through a technique called Facades. George Orwell lies to himself using Facades because he feels he must kill the elephant to refrain from looking like an imbecile to the Burmese as he is an officer of the empire. He feels obligated to shoot the elephant “solely to avoid looking a fool” (309). He continues to call for “a rifle and five cartridges” although he knows it is wrong (305). He even admits “[he] did not in the least want to...
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...interaction is the existence of lying. An ongoing debate of whether or not one should practice honesty or deploy a deceptive lie exists in most people’s minds. While most people think of lying as something invariably deliberate, some lies can be automatic and subconscious, and are said and accepted without hesitation or further thought. While it is clear to many how abundant lying is in today’s world, the consideration of how beneficial and morally correct lying is not one that is pondered often enough. Whether or not lying is something encouraged is a topic of great debate. To many, lying is a necessary tool that exists for the benefit of those who are wise enough to take advantage of it. However, when one...
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...When someone tells the truth, are they telling a lie? According to Stephanie Ericsson’s essay, “The Ways We Lie,” Ericsson states, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people’s feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutes” (Ericsson Paragraph 3). In today’s world, people lie. I believe that what Ericsson has said about lying and the ways we do it is absolutely true. In the play, “The Crucible,” people lied about witchcraft. In real life, different people lie about different things. In society, like the 2016 Presidential Nominees, they lie about many things so they can get your vote in November. Arthur Miller, author of “The Crucible,” based many of...
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...The article The Ways We Lie by Stephanie Ericsson, goes hand in hand with Oceania. A country falling to corruption, false patriotism, and absolutely no privacy, Orwell’s 1984 encompasses what can happen when a government gains too much power and deceives their people. Omission: Ericsson’s article explains omissions as a story with major details left out, that changes the story completely. Omissions present themselves throughout Orwell’s 1984, for example, the party tells the story of their country, yet they leave out key details that alter the outcome of the story. Orwell explains, “If all others accepted the lie which the party imposed-if all records told the same tale-then the lie passed into history and became truth” (Orwell...
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...Coming up with different types of lies, saying lies, and showing without speaking but still lying. Humans lie in many forms, verbal, on social media, over technology and other ways. ( Stephanie Ericcson “Ways we lie” ) How do we lie? Why would anybody lie? We lie by not telling the truth because we don’t want the truth coming out. People lie to cover up anything bad they did, so they can make themselves look good. Like Stephanie Ericcson said “ We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation we spare people’s feelings, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutions.” ( Page 472 2nd paragraph ) I’ve finally figured out the reason behind why people lie, so that they want get...
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...whether it is to protect the ones we love or to cover up something we don’t want others to find out. Lying is the new moral of our modern day society. It's much easier to lie to someone than to tell the truth. In Ericsson’s essay The Ways We Lie, she describes nine descriptions and examples of lies we all say in a day. No matter how honest you try to be, most people ends up saying a lie. Sometimes lies are necessary, but does that really mean someone should build their life upon lies on top of lies. We tend to not pick them out as “water is to fish”. Throughout the essay it tells about how humans can lie in many different ways. As the quote states “our acceptance of lies becomes a cultural cancer that eventually shrouds and reorders reality until moral garbage becomes as invisible to us as water is to a fish." Both cancer and garbage are used to describe the lying. Cancer is used to describe a...
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...Everybody lies at least once in their life. It could be a stranger walking past you to a person that you are close to or fond of. And it could be a big, complex lie or a small, short lie. People can lie anywhere and everywhere. From a private secluded area to a public spacious environment. I admit that I lie many times in my life on multiple occasions. In the article “The Ways We Lie ” by Stephanie Ericsson, the author points out that lies are harmful. First, the author lists various types of lies that people use every day. Second, the author gives examples of each type of lie. Lastly, the author conveys the negative effects about lying to people. I strongly disagree with the author's statement; lying is not always detrimental to others because...
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...The author of “the Ways We Lie” Stephanie Ericsson starts with a personal experience of lying to get out of a late fee, not lose a client for being late, comfort her husband who she could tell could have a bad day. A week without even telling a small white lie seems very unlikely she explains through telling us the consequences of telling the whole complete truth. There are many lies this includes a white lie, facades, ignoring the plain facts, deflecting, omission, stereotypes, clichés, groupthink, out-and-out lies, Dismissal, and Delusion. Starting off with a white lie – an assumption that the truth may hurt the person more than the slightly fibbed statement, Facades – is based on the front a person puts up (maybe based on talk versus action)....
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...Everything in life is not always black and white. A well-intentioned untruth sometimes is not the best thing to say even if the idea is to try and help someone. Stephanie Ericsson’s “The Ways We Lie” displays cause-and-effect patterns in several instances of deceptions to enlighten her readers about human tendencies. In ignoring the plain facts author Stephanie Ericsson explains how ignoring the truth can cause pain for the unsuspecting. She writes about Father James Porter molesting children in the church in the 1960’s. The ecclesiastical authorities heard about the wrongful doing, but instead of punishing Father Porter they believed it would be best to just move him. He was moved around from church to church from 1960 to 1967 due to his sickness. Consequently, he was handed innocent new victims. For this reason, after many years of abusing children he was finally given treatment in 1967. The abuse continued after Father Porter was released to go back to work in the church. While the higher authorities ignored the facts he was able to abuse many children. People believe omission is something people do to not hurt the other person. Author Stephanie Ericsson writes about a Sumerian goddess whom was omitted from the Bible. This gave a new outlook on how people looked at the story of Adam and Eve. The author states she was introduced to Lilith...
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...Results of a lie What is the reason for lying? When is a lie acceptable? Who does a lie hurt most? These questions are answered in Stephanie Ericsson’s essay “The Ways We Lie.” Ericsson begins by dishonestly calling the bank of her deposit check; stating it was in the mail, when it was not written yet. Lies arose, one after another. It started by explaining to a client her tartness due to traffic, hiding the fact that her day was terrible from her husband and denying a lunch invitation from a friend since she was busy (290). Lying provides individuals a way to escape confrontation; only during certain situations are lies tolerable; on the other hand lies can hurt the liar and the victim. It is human nature to lie, but that is not a reason to do such actions. Rather than expressing their true feelings some people believe that lying is easier, and most of the time it is the first choice. Ericsson emphasizes, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare peoples feelings” (290). A lie becomes second nature to many; it is the go to option when wanting to dodge certain individuals. Trying to save the feelings of victims of a lie, people run to a dishonest face only fantasizing that the lie will protect the victim’s feelings. Even the small lies counts, when asked how their day was people tend to respond with “good” hiding the fact it was the worst day ever. It is simpler to lie than to explain why their day was terrible. Taking the easy way out by...
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...October 12, 2013 “ The Ways We Lie “ and “ Too Much Pressure” In Stephanie Ericsson’s essay “ The Ways We Lie “, her thesis states “ lying , she finds , may be unavoidable and even sometimes beneficial” (348 ). In Colleen Wenke’s essay “ Too Much Pressure “ her thesis ask the question “ Why do students cheat n school? ( 482 )”. Both of these essays give their strong reasons on why these two things take place. For Ericsson it is situations that we are put in, and for Wenke the excuse is the stresses of life. Both of these essays are thought provoking in the aspect of the general views of the reasons why we do things. These essays discuss in great detail each author’s point of view and tone. The tone in “ The Way We Lie “ is that of it is just the way of the world and for that we really should not be surprised. In this essay when Ericsson states “ We lie, We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize, we avoid confrontation, we spare people’s feelings, we conveniently forget, we keep secrets, we justify lying to the big-guy institutions ( 348 )”. This tone has a what is the big deal feeling. In contrast the essay “ Too Much Pressure “ has a different tone. When the Wenke says “ A main difference between school today and school when my parents were enrolled is that we are now very goal-oriented and will compromise our values to achieve those goals” ( 484 ). Wenke also states “ Students who would not usually cheat get sucked into believing it is the only way to get ahead in school”...
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...A Song Tells a Story: Song Lyrics Assignment The song I choose is called “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem featuring Rhianna. I choose this song because I enjoy listening to it. When the song was first released in 2010, it was one of my favourite songs to play. The song is worldly know and had won various musical awards. Both artists featured on this song are recognized world-wide, for their success and fame in the music industry. “Love the Way You Lie” is about domestic violence. Domestic violence is the abuse verbally, emotionally or physically in any type of relationship. Domestic violence is a commonly known subject and can happen to anyone, male or female. On average 30% of women who have been in a relationship has experience physical or sexual violence from their partner. The story that is carried throughout the song is of two lovers in an abusive relationship. The two lovers refuse to separate even though being in an unsafe love, hate relationship. The two, endure all types of physical and emotional abuse throughout the song, for example when Eminem says “Now you're in each other's face spewing venom in your words when you spit them” Both lovers are fighting, using all types of words to emotionally wound the other. “Love the Way You Lie” gained much of its popularity due to the underlying message about domestic violence. The song helped raise awareness about domestic abuse and violence in relationships. Themes that are found throughout the song are toxic relationships...
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...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...
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...lives, we, as a species, are deceitful. There are many reasons why we lie, whether it is to protect ourselves, protect someone we love, to escape an uncomfortable experience, for the thrill of it, or due to a disorder. In every aspect of our lives, and from every angle, deceptive stimuli bombards our nervous system and keeps our brains constantly at work to weed out the information that is correct from the information that is false. Advertisements, our parents, our children, friends, and siblings, those who we have more intimate relationships with, and even ourselves, deceive us, just as we are deceitful to them. There are many degrees to lying, varying from little white lies, to blatant deception and perjury. The motives and desired outcomes of those who lie vary greatly from person to person, as well as the degree to which they lie. Most people would agree that there are times when it is acceptable to tell white lies or even a bigger lie for the greater good, if the truth is not something of importance. I will discuss several facets of deception. To start, I will describe several types of lies and give definitions and examples of them. Then, I will talk about some facts about the frequency at which we are deceptive on an average day, and situations in which we generally increase or decrease how deceptive we are. Next, I will discuss why lies are prevalent in relationships, and how deception creates friction in the workplace. After that, I will talk about how we deceive...
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...Will we ever be able to 100% accurately perceive if someone is lying? Lying is apart of everyday life. It can be done in a positive way, to benefit a situation, or can be done in a negative way to make something worse. It can be done in something so simple as lying about what you were doing earlier to your friend, when really you were at the mall buying her a birthday present for her birthday that weekend. A negative example of lying would be a girlfriend cheating on her boyfriend, and lying about what she was doing instead. Then you have situations where you lie and agree with someone just to keep a conversation going. You also have compulsive liars who feel the need to lie about everything they do and talk about. Sometimes these people get so convinced on what they are lying about themselves, that they don’t even know how much they do it or when they do it. Both men and women lie in approximately a fifth of their social exchanges lasting 10 or more minutes; over the course of a week they deceive about 30 percent of those with whom they interact one-on-one. (Phycology Today, 1997.) Now if you’re in a criminal situation and they only have your feedback to go off of, they need to test whether or not you’re lying. In order to do this, they need to use a polygraph or brain scanner. These lie detecting technologies aren’t 100% effective. My question is if they will ever be improved or 100% accurate. While looking up how we benefit ourselves with the lie detection technologies...
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