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Experts on deception say everyone lies
Associated Press ^ | Jan 18, 2013 3:49 PM EST | Helen O’Neill

Posted on 01/18/2013 7:05:13 PM PST by Olog-hai

Lance Armstrong may have been branded liar and cheat of the month, but experts say he's not as different from the rest of us as we’d like to believe. Lying, they say, is part of the human condition, something most people do every day. And that’s reflected in the cavalcade of celebrities cowed into confession after their deceptions were exposed—from Richard Nixon’s denial of the Watergate break-in to Bill Clinton’s denial of an affair with an intern, from drug-abusing baseball players to fraudulent Wall Street executives. …

“Lying is extraordinarily common and we couldn’t get along without it,” says David Livingstone Smith, a professor of philosophy at the University of New England in Maine, and author of the book Why We Lie. “It greases the wheels of society.” Lying, Smith says, “is as automatic and unconscious as sweating.” He points out that parents teach children at an early age that “it’s OK to lie, just not to me.” Kids are told to pretend to be grateful for a Christmas gift they don’t want. And they witness their parents lying—about the tooth fairy, and the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus.

Wise people throughout history have understood that lying and deception is part of life, Smith says: “There is no commandment that says ‘thou shalt not lie,’” though there is a commandment against bearing false witness. …

(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Education; Science; Society
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Wow on that last paragraph. Reading the translation of the Hebrew words for “bear false witness” from Exodus 20:16 and Deuteronomy 5:20, it can be more accurately rendered in English as “speak lying testimony”. Try again, Smith.
1 posted on 01/18/2013 7:05:17 PM PST by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai

>> “Lying is extraordinarily common and we couldn’t get along without it,” says David Livingstone Smith

DON’T BELIEVE A THING THIS GUY SAYS.


2 posted on 01/18/2013 7:07:46 PM PST by Nervous Tick (Without GOD, men get what they deserve.)
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To: Olog-hai

Yeah, you know, every time I lie it costs other people millions of dollars and championships as well. /s


3 posted on 01/18/2013 7:08:17 PM PST by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (IMPEACH OBAMA)
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To: Olog-hai

So they expect me to believe them?


4 posted on 01/18/2013 7:09:24 PM PST by FlingWingFlyer (HealthCare IS NOT a right. The RIGHT to keep and bear arms is.)
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To: Olog-hai

We didn’t do the whole Santa Claus, Easter Bunny thing with our kids for just this reason. I couldn’t look my kids in the eye and lie to them. They’re all adults now, love Christmas and have no problem with our not playing the Santa Claus game. People used to tell me we were taking all the fun out of Christmas, but nothing could have been further from the truth.


5 posted on 01/18/2013 7:10:13 PM PST by cantfindagoodscreenname (I really hate not knowing what was said in the deleted posts....)
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To: Olog-hai
Look....I pooted in bed this morning and convinced wifey that it was just me burping.

No harm, no foul.

6 posted on 01/18/2013 7:12:38 PM PST by ErnBatavia (Piffle....)
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To: Olog-hai

Sigh....Nixon never denied the Watergate break-in. I wonder how old this guy is.


7 posted on 01/18/2013 7:16:02 PM PST by JoeDetweiler
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To: Olog-hai

This is the same stuff state-controlled media was saying about Clinton in the “I did not have sex with that woman” era.


8 posted on 01/18/2013 7:16:09 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (TYRANNY: When the people fear the politicians. LIBERTY: When the politicians fear the people.)
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To: Nervous Tick

This is article is BS!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with 3 Victoria Secret supermodels who will also be showing the latest lingerie line in a private suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel later tonight...


9 posted on 01/18/2013 7:17:36 PM PST by max americana (Make the world a better place by punching a liberal in the face)
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To: JoeDetweiler

Certainly not the expert on deception he claims to be. Maybe an expert on self-deception?


10 posted on 01/18/2013 7:18:40 PM PST by Olog-hai
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To: Olog-hai
"All Cretans are liars!" - spoken by a Cretan.

I refuse to be defined by the likes of Bill Clinton and others of his ilk!



Keep Faith with the Fallen of Benghazi! Let the Obama Regime, for once, tell the Truth!

Fiat Justitia, Ruat Coelum!

Genuflectimus non ad principem sed ad Principem Pacis!

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

11 posted on 01/18/2013 7:19:48 PM PST by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3/5 Marines RVN 1969 - St. Michael the Archangel defend us in Battle!)
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To: Olog-hai; a fool in paradise; Slings and Arrows
I don't lie, I sit!


12 posted on 01/18/2013 7:21:50 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: Olog-hai
Ever thing he says is a lie -Kirk

I'm lying to you - Spock

13 posted on 01/18/2013 7:22:23 PM PST by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
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To: FlingWingFlyer

There is some credence to what he says in general. You have to look at the motivation behind the lie and the age and experience of the individual as well as the circumstances. Some lies are told not to hurt the feelings of others while others are told for gain / profit or to outright decieve so the answer isn’t black and white because there is a wide spectrum. As you get older and more experienced you learn there are consequences to lying; damage to your reputation, harming others, lack of trust, etc... You also learn that you can just tell it like it is and not feel embarrassed about something that you may have told a white lie. It’s the human condition; we are not robots and were born into sin, however if the government can get people to feel guilt about it and regulate it they can figure out to turn a profit from it. Don’t buy into bs liberal ideaologies and news articles. There’s always a hook...


14 posted on 01/18/2013 7:24:50 PM PST by jsanders2001
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To: jsanders2001

Forgot to mention I’m an investigator and lied to on a regular basis...


15 posted on 01/18/2013 7:28:14 PM PST by jsanders2001
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To: Olog-hai
Lance Armstrong may have been branded liar and cheat of the month, but experts say he's not as different from the rest of us as we’d like to believe.

This is BS with an agenda. Sure, if someone asks me how I'm doing, I might say "I'm fine" even if I'm anything but.

However, if someone knows better and says so, I don't think I'll tell the world they're lying about me and then sue them, only to later cry to Oprah how they were telling the truth all along.

Speaking of liars, what is the real intent of the author of this article?

16 posted on 01/18/2013 7:31:40 PM PST by GBA (Here in the Matrix, life is but a dream.)
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To: cantfindagoodscreenname

You mean....you mean.....There is no Santa Rabbit? Well, there’s another childhood memory shot in the donkey.


17 posted on 01/18/2013 7:32:47 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Olog-hai
Reading the translation of the Hebrew words for “bear false witness” from Exodus 20:16 and Deuteronomy 5:20, it can be more accurately rendered in English as “speak lying testimony”. Try again, Smith.

OK; to give testimony is to provide evidence in court to facts.

How is that different than bearing witness?

I believe the intent of the commandment is that one is not to give false evidence to a court and I have heard biblical scholars say as much.

18 posted on 01/18/2013 7:40:39 PM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: Olog-hai

We all tell ‘white lies’, I sure don’t want to tell someone their new baby is ugly. But - Armstrong told lies for his own glory and gain, and that makes it very wrong.


19 posted on 01/18/2013 7:41:55 PM PST by potlatch
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To: blam
"Forget the truth! LIES keep you together! LIES enhance your relationship, they enhance your love..."

Sam Kinison

20 posted on 01/18/2013 7:43:10 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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