Liar, Liar!

'Society would quickly collapse were it not for the dozens of tiny lies we permit ourselves every day. Mostly we use this for simple good manners. For instance, when breaking up with a partner, we reassure them that "It's not you, it's me", when in reality it most certainly is them.

We all learn to lie at such a young age: every parent will recognise the moment where a child first puts their hand to their mouth before stating a blatant lie. From that moment, we get steadily better at lying as we grow older, gradually refining our technique until by full adulthood we are all experts in the art of deception.

Of all human social behaviours, it is perhaps the hardest to detect.'

- James Borg, 'How to lie and not look as though you are lying'.

Comments

If it is human behaviour to lie from childhood, should we blame the parents and teachers to have allowed to? If such a habit or nature is not nipped in the bud, yes it leads to distructive mind. Else, should we forgive and forget? Instead, the elders must tell the child why one should not lie. They have subjects like Moral Science at School level and Ethics and Corporate Governance at University level.

Can we go on listing the stages like lieing, bluffing, cheating, defrauding, forgery, and so on? And today the police and courts are struggling with Lie Detector. Take the two cases - Telgi Stamp Scam (Karnataka) and Arushi Murder Case (New Delhi). The truth is not coming out despite best of efforts. We are only wasting our time watching TV news and reading the news in papers.

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