...Tareef Sabree 4/4/16 AP-Lit The Ways I Lie “What you don’t know won’t hurt you.” This is the basis for pretty much all lies. If someone doesn’t know what you tell them is a lie, then it won’t hurt them. Everybody has told a lie at least once. Especially as a kids, when I was about to get in trouble my first instinct was to lie. Even adults do it when they are late for work. They tell their boss that they were stuck in traffic when they really overslept. It is true that everyone tells a lie at some point in time, but there is a fine line between being someone who tells a lie once in a while and being a liar. There are many types of lies. I tell white lies most often. Those types of lies just roll off the tongue so easily. A white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple lie. So when my teacher asks me if I would like to help her carry her bags to her car I quickly say yes. When I know that I am tired and she just gave me a bad grade and I do not feel like helping her. If she knew how I really felt it would hurt her so I just smile and say yes. Another example is when your friend decides to try a new barber out and they ask you if their haircut is messed up or not. I hate to be the one to tell them that their cut is jacked up. So I tell a white lie and tell them that it looks good. Since I told the lie my friend feels much better about his cut and he doesn’t think about it anymore. As opposed to telling the truth and have him upset because...
Words: 812 - Pages: 4
...White Lie Lying is unforgivable. People who lie are disgusting and we should keep distance with them. We are tought taught to tell truth since we were born. I also firmly believed this until one day when I was so nervous of everything. My teacher told me that I was the best student she had seen. It is her white lie that inspired confidence in me. And Then I realized that lying is not necessarily a an intolerable thing. What’s more, We we would rather get a white lie instead of a an intolerable truth. Telling a white lie is not dishonest. Moreover, the people who tell white lies are so considerate as pure angels. I’d like to tell you a beautiful white lie comes from . A dying patient could see a big tree outside from her room. When the leaves fell down off one by one, she became weaker and weaker. So she said,”I’llsaid,” I’ll die as the leaves all gogone.” Yet, there was only one leaf was still hunging hanging on the tree even after a rainstorm. HowerverHowever it is “the firm leaf” which actually was actually a painting of by a warm-hearted painter who had heard of the remark of her that made her go through the crucial point. A lie though it is, it comes from goodwilling and be respected all the time. A white lie not only can give others hope as the last leaf, but also can make life better, prevent arguementargument, protect others. Without the word of “you are the best” from his mother, Forrest Gump would have not gotten the honor. Without the word of “your taste is good”...
Words: 517 - Pages: 3
...on life. These lies are considered white lies or kind lies. A white lie is a cautious, wrong statement which is meant to do no harm or is intended to produce an encouraging result. Adair Lara’s Couple lie shows readers white lies in marriage. She states “This is marital lying. It’s not a white lie, meant to spare your feelings. It’s a pink lie, a couple lie.” In her opinion white lies and couple lies are different, couple lies are acceptable. The author and many people see white lies and couple lies as a way to get through life, but are the results always positive? Couple Lies and White lies may seem innocent and harmless but can potentially cause problems in relationships and friendships. Usually white lies and couple lies aren’t intentional. They are just told at a moment in time when you find yourself in a situation where you may feel as if the truth is harmful, or at least the complete truth. Other times you are uncomfortable answering the question that is asked and rather avoid a problem. Sometimes we fear that the truth may hurt someone’s feelings therefore we use a white lie or couple lie to save face. We lie to those questions like “how do I look?” or “how does the food taste?” You would rather boost someone’s ego rather than be responsible for lowering their self-esteem. We feel that if we bring someone happiness it is a win-win situation. This ideology seems quite simple and fool proof which is why people choose to tell little white and couple lies in life. When you...
Words: 697 - Pages: 3
...Imagine you’re out shopping with your friend, she tries on a shirt she really likes, but you think it’s hideous. She buys it and wears it to school the next morning, and finally she asks, “How do I look?” Do you lie or tell her the truth? Everybody lies, everyone, whether it’s a “little white lie” used to protect someone’s feelings or a very big lie said to hurt others, it’s a part of human nature. However, I believe that lies can only be told when they are used to protect and care for others. It seems to me that, lying is okay when it is used to protect the feelings of others. For example, in the article, “The U.S. Political Campaign: Lies, Lies, Lies,” by Paul Grey, Grey states that, “Most “little white lies” belong here, well-intentioned...
Words: 739 - Pages: 3
...and it does not harm anyone, then it is fine. Recently, I have done some research on articles about lies, and it changes my perception about lying. I found an interesting blog about “Categories of Lies - White Lies, Grey Lies, and Black Lies”, Truth Lies Deception and Coverups Blogger 2015 (TLDCB). So what is the definition of a lie? According to BBC – Ethic Guide, “lying is a form of deception, but not all forms of deception are lies.” I agree with this definition, not all forms of deception are lies, and all lies are not the same. To me, sometimes lying is appropriate and necessary in some circumstances. However, to have a better judgment of information receiving every day, we should constantly be concerned with all of our communication. The article I’ve read about categories of lies clearly defines “the major distinguishing factors between the major categories of lies are intent, consequence, and public acceptability”. I reckon those are undeniably correct. Before going to details of the analysis, from the article, we will look at the classification system of lying. There are two types of lies: lies of commission and lies of omission. And there are three categories of lies: white lies, grey lies and black lies. As stated in the article a lie has three main features: “A lie communicates or hides information. The liar knows the truth. The liar intends to deceive in order to influence the audience to believe something that is not true - so that subsequent...
Words: 1533 - Pages: 7
...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)....
Words: 298 - Pages: 2
...how often a lie is told. After a lie, the feeling of telling a lie is so terrible that it might have gotten the other people into trouble for something that did not even occur. In the article, “The Ways We Lie” by Stephanie Ericsson, she talks to us about the different types of lies there are. She explains how lying comes out in a person’s everyday life even when is inevitable. However, “In the Pale Moonlight” from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine shows how one of the main characters, Captain Sisko, felt guilty because of the lies he had made. The lie he makes, cost...
Words: 1297 - Pages: 6
...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...
Words: 2229 - Pages: 9
...Kaitlyn Berger King AP Language and Composition 11/5/15 Honesty Is Not Always the Best Policy Honesty is not always the Best Policy. Lying in denotative terms means deception, however there are times when avoiding the full truth, or even tell a lie, in order to protect someone’s feelings, or prevent a conflict. I believe we all have to lie or even obscure the truth once in our life. White Lies are the definition of these situations. White lies are lies that are not harmful to the people involved in the situation. They serve a multitude of purposes from keeping a child’s imagination alive to building people’s motivation and self-image up. Santa Clause most people from the age 15 and up recognizes these names as just a figment of an imagination. Today I was in the car with my sister. I asked her, “Sophia, who is Santa Clause?” She told me without missing a step that Santa Clause brought her presents. He lives in the North Pole and has pet reindeers. But wait, I thought we just established that Santa was a figment of our imaginations? My sister’s answer was based off of white lies; lies that were fed to her and kids below the age of 15. This type of lying never hurt anybody. In this situation I see no reason why lying was harmful. Although my sister will be sad to hear that her childhood fantasies are not real she will be able to reminisce on the stories she was told about these creatures. My mom told me Santa Clause wasn’t real by writing me a letter. In a nutshell...
Words: 843 - Pages: 4
...often I lie and how often other people lie. Could you imagine a world where there’s no such thing as lying? Would we all just be better acceptors of everything or would the world just be filled with anger for those not as willing to accept the truth? The fact of the matter is that the truth will come out sooner or later. You have to have a good memory to remember your own exact words. In many instances when someone tells a lie it’s usually a very quick response, denying or simply distorting a statement. For myself personally I am not one of the best liars. There is something about lying that goes against my morals and way of thinking especially when it comes to lying to certain people. As a teenager now I can distinguish how to lie and to whom I can lie to. I wouldn’t lie to my parents the same way I lie to my peers at school. For one thing my parents know me far too well and I probably would have a much more complex thought in the way I lie and what I decide to feed them . Whereas on the other hand lying to peers at school is much simpler because there is not as strong as a connection (not with all peers but the majority) there’s no need for your peers to interrogate you further. In this type of lying method you have to consider remembering the complex lie with its details, the plain simple lie leaving room to still add detail if questioned, and lastly the truth. With whatever the situation may be telling a white lie with not much importance a lie is still a lie and it will...
Words: 490 - Pages: 2
...Lying is ubiquitous. It is seen everywhere and it is truly an art form, it comes in many shapes and forms: white lies, doublespeak, and dismissal are some of many forms of lies. Whether lying is a positive or a negative thing is a question that many people have different views on. Humans are very selfish, everyone lives for themselves, everything someone does is something that is in their best interest. Whether you're a Politician, insurance salesman, a real-estate agent, or simply just an average Joe doing nothing special you're going to be lying countless times throughout your life to people you hate and love. And that is okay because it's your life and if you can get what you want or avoid trouble then why not. Lying is generally seen as a bad thing, if you've never met someone but you hear that person has a reputation for being a liar, then you'll probably avoid having a relationship with that person. However it's not always a bad thing because many lies will make people feel better about themselves. For instance, Stephanie Ericsson who wrote an essay on lying, "The Ways We Lie", discusses many forms of lying such as the white lie. This lie being one of the good lies "The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth" (349). So if your kids draw you a dog on a piece of paper with crayons and it looks like a bunch of lines you would commend them on their effort rather than telling them they did a terrible job. This is a good thing...
Words: 333 - Pages: 2
...made in the text. ● No part of this assignment has been written for me by any other person except where such collaboration has been authorised by the lecturer concerned. ● I hold a copy of this assignment which I can produce if the original is lost or damaged. Signature: _________________________________ Date: ___________________ ● NB: A lecturer or tutor has, and may exercise, the right not to mark this assignment if the above declaration has not been signed. ● If the above declaration is found to be false, appropriate action will be taken. . Little White Lies – Honesty or Dishonesty? Or just an easy way to avoid the painful truth? Lukas Cavalcante Baier Zhejiang University of Science and Technology Abstract Everyone lies. But why do we lie? An often trivial, diplomatic or well-intended untruth, a minor or unimportant lie uttered in the interest to remain polite? Though it is frequently judged, lie-telling is a common and frequent activity in social relations, with ostensible social risks and benefits. Yet, insincerity can become a problem behavior with frequent or inappropriate use over time. The goal of this essay...
Words: 1694 - Pages: 7
... Unqualified absolutism is defined by the book as the view that there are many moral absolutes that never actually conflict; all alleged conflicts are only apparent, but not real. Under unqualified absolutism it states that we are able to avoid doing wrong. Under this system it states that right and wrong is determined by Gods laws and those laws are what we should follow in order to not do wrong. Under this system lying is not permitted because it is wrong. Under no circumstance should you lie to solve any issue that you might incur. The philosophy of this system tells us that there are no true moral conflicts, because God always provides us with the solution to our problem (Geisler, 2010). To me the best example of unqualified absolutism would be a young child. I say this because as a child I could not lie to my Father. I told the truth no matter what it was just who I was and how they raised me. I was always told even if you do something bad you tell the truth, because if you lie you are going to get in more trouble than if you just told that truth. When it...
Words: 1487 - Pages: 6
...This question can fill volumes so I am going to tackle the two most prevalent aspects to what will happen if you lie. Health Ramifications Most of us can remember when we last told a lie, or when the lie required you to recall details of what it was about. You may recollect feeling stressed, anxious and actually having an adverse physical reaction because you had to guess at the specifics of the lie? What’s even more daunting is what you thought was believed to have been forgotten, may now be overwhelming your thoughts despite your efforts to forget about “it”. Psychology researchers at the University of Notre Dame conducted a 10-week study on a group of 110 individuals, half of which were asked not to lie, and the other half told to keep track of how many times they actually lied. [1] The researchers followed each participant’s mental and physical health with survey’s...
Words: 1047 - Pages: 5
...affects heart rate. There has been research conducted on the same problem in the past. In fact, polygraphs, more commonly known as lie detectors, have existed for quite some time. The idea for a polygraph was brought about by Cesare Lombroso in the year 1895. He was an Italian psychiatrist who believed he could use factors such as blood pressure, heart rate, and physical behaviors to determine whether or not the test subject was lying. However, back then his theory was quickly shoved to the side and dismissed along with his other theory of identifying criminals using the shape of their skull. At the beginning of the 1900’s a scientist by the name of William Marston decided to try and refine the design of the polygraph. Around the years of 1917 and 1923, William Marston had made a working lie detector. He stated that he could correctly deduce whether or not the subject was lying, with 95% accuracy (White 2001)....
Words: 1727 - Pages: 7
