Why Lie?

Some folks seem to have a hard time with this question. I don't know why though it seems obvious to me. I am going to try to explain what a lie is in my own view. To get at what makes a lie, first we need to agree on what is truth.

Truth is both objective and subjective. I know some think that it must be one or the other but that isn't so. There is an objective truth. We will most likely never see it though. The problem is individual perspective.

I may see an auto accident from one angle while you see it from another. Both of the drivers involved have their own perspectives as well. All four of these will likely be slightly if not wholly different. When we tell our view of what happened if all do not agree, are we lying? No we are not we are telling the truth from our own perspective. (at least we will assume no one is lying on purpose.) There is an objective truth as well as the subjective truth. We must try to wade through all the stories and then add any physical evidence to it to get to the truth.

There are different types of untruths that we deal with everyday. Are they all lies? No. We read fiction and watch made up stories in the theater or on TV. The creators are not liars, they are story tellers. We do not stigmatize them for telling us lies. We revere them for all the emotional out lets they provide. They teach us about the best and worst in mankind. They are the Bards and Shaman of our techno world.

So what is the difference between our bards and a liar? Intent. Telling a story with the intent to defraud somehow. Telling a lie in hopes of gaining something for the self only (or even for a nation) is what we can not tolerate. Why is it that these strings of words hurt us so. Why do folks choose to lie rather than tell the truth?

I know why some folks lie. They do it to gain respect, to gain funds, to be loved, to protect themselves and many other reasons to be sure. I think that it is hard to be lied to, not because it hurts us personally, but because it affects the way we see the world when the lie is uncovered.

Suddenly we doubt everything when we discover a lie. We ask questions like: What else did so-and-so lie about? Did thus-and-such know so-and-so was lying to me? Why didn't thus-and-such tell me it was a lie? Was any of it true? Who else has lied to me?

We become filled with doubt. We doubt our own instincts and intelligence. We also begin to doubt all those around us. Our world is shaken. It takes quite some time for most folks to let go of the large lies. Sometimes it takes even longer to let go of the more subtle, small lies. We spend our time watching and waiting for the next lie.

So a lie is something that alters our reality. A lie in a sense is magickal. With nothing but mere words we can change someone's world forever. I wonder if in knowing this it can stop us from lying. I know it has curbed my own natural tendency to lie.

I hope when you read this you will stop and think about the lies you have told. I hope that the next time a lie seems like an easy way out you will think twice about how much harm you can do with a few little, seemingly harmless words. I hope you will choose honesty.