In this work, I want to talk about the idea of deception, the motives for lying, and the different kinds of lies that are told every day. Deception is an event or assertion that is meant to obscure the facts or the true meaning of a circumstance. Furthermore, it may be something that is intended or creates a misleading perception (Ericsson 410). Almost everyone lies. Falsehoods are generated by distortion, lack of facts, or twisting to match a particular circumstance (Ericsson 410).
These two definitions say that there are different types of lies. Some of the categories include the following:
First, the white lie: in this kind of deceit, the culprits postulate that if the truth is likely to cause more damage than good, a person is justified to deceive to save a delicate situation (Ericsson 410). For instance complimenting a friend that she looks amazing when in reality she looks terrible can be based on the thinking that that friend needs a lie more than a genuine opinion. However, it is the deceiver who decides the best situation and the type of lie to be told. But on ethical principles, it is a vote of no confidence (Ericsson 410). It is considered arrogance to think that one can decide what is right for another person.
Not all situations are pretty cut-and-dried. Take, for example, the case of a general in the Iraq war who knew that one of his men lost his life in battle but recorded him as missing in action so that the family may receive indefinite reimbursement in place of the lump-sum pittance the military advances to children and widows. He might have had good intentions, but for ten years the family still kept high hopes, unable to forget about the father and adapt to a new life (Ericsson 410).
Secondly, the use of facades: for instance when one dresses up in a suit and a tie, obeying the expectations that serious merchants dress in suits rather casual clothes; those are facades- giving a wrong impression that what you are (Ericsson 411). But maybe that person is a writer; he wakes up, gets his kids ready to school, and sits back in his desks in a jeans and vest until late in the evening (Ericsson 411). When they respond to a call, the caller may imagine that they are smartly dressed in a suit.
It should be understood that facades are risky because they are employed by people to create false impressions. For example, recently my colleague came to realize that his former friend is a liar. He presented himself with excellent looks, offered surprising insights, inspirational words, and numerous consciousness theories. Then they transacted some business together, and when the time for compensation came, it was all excuses and lots of talks and no action. After my colleague grew furious and confronted him, he said that he had not made any commitments and tried to defend himself that my friend had not gotten him right. After some investigations from his buddies, it opened up that he had conned even his close allies with the same facades.
Thirdly, neglecting the plain facts. In the early 1970s, a particular church administration heard that one of their priests was sexually molesting young boys. Instead of sacking him or probing him, the church leadership only transferred him from one parish to another between 1970 and 1978, literally providing him with a fertile ground to proceed with his unlawful acts since the parents and children in the new location had no hint of his evil character (Ericsson 411). After treatment, he went back to his old station in 1978. The church was aware of his past behavior, but was in dire need of a priest and thus carelessly believed that he had transformed after treatment. This time round, he abused more children until he was fired one year later. Through his confession, he abused more than 100 boys (Ericsson 411). The issue here is ignoring the facts. By itself, it may not be a form of lying but looking at the situation; this church intentionally covered some details about this clergyman thus causing irreparable damage to innocent kids. The church became part of illegality and lying (Ericsson 411).
Fourth, lying through deflection: it is possible that some people can keep others from knowing their true self by being blatantly selective. One can keep secrets of things which they want to hide. They may abstain from talking on the same topics to conceal the information they do not want to be known (Ericsson 412). They just make people assume that they are revealing all the information they share. It is the most efficient way of hiding information. Individuals who are good in lying know that the best way of advancing untrue issues is to deflect attention from things which matter. The best example of deflection is when Clarence Thomas exploded with allegations that the Senate proceedings were quick calculations to tarnish his image (Ericsson 412). His words were deflection tactics to switch attention from a highly charged matter to a hot issue. Instead of defending his reputation, he took the offense of accusing the country of racism vices. It is a diligent plot. An act of racism is politically incorrect in official echelons while sexual assault still rewards perpetrators if they get away with it (Ericsson 412).
A number of the most talented deflectors are passive-aggressive persons who when accused of wrongdoing intentionally fail to react to the allegations. This you-don’t-exist plan irritates the accuser, who consequently yells something offensive due to frustration. It is a trap which is released and makes deflection successful (Ericsson 412). Because the passive-aggressive individual can respond that, “who can argue with such unreasonable person?” (Ericsson 412). Then the burning issues are forgotten, and the evils of the original perpetrator are forgotten and the wrongs of the second person become the center of attention. Because of guilt feelings, the victim is fully contained and withdraws away, ashamed. This fighting tactic works out numerous times in quarrels between men and women, and the real culprit ends up not affected.
Fifth, lying through omission: it happens when an individual consistently tells the truth but avoids one or two keys facts whose absence transforms the story completely. For instance, a person breaks a pair of glasses that are secure under normal use during a drinking spree and acquire a new pair without mentioning that the first one was broken during drunkenness (Ericsson 412). Besides, the omission of details can bring a huge difference on how a person lives. ‘
Sixth, lying through stereotypes and clichés: people’s desire for massive amounts of information in microseconds has made stereotypes critical in modern communication. Unluckily, it always closes the original thoughts giving those yearning for the truth a candy bar of wrong information in place of right details (Ericsson 413). The stereotypes describe an event with just enough truth to appear correct and unquestionable.
All forms of –“isms” such as ageism, sexism, gay ism, racism, etc. are based and driven by stereotypes and clichés which are lies of ignorance, exaggeration, and omission (Ericsson 413). They are often very risky. They take a single tree and elevate it into a landscape. They kill curiosity, close minds and alienate people. A single mother on the welfare program is perceived as cheating. Any black gentleman could tell how much they are oppressed because of stereotypes. Mentally sick, fat people, short women, old folks, ugly and beautiful people, and women with large breasts all try to tell us how identical they are to us more than we want to believe (Ericsson 413).
Seventh, lying through groupthink: Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon nurtured in decision-making teams in which loyalty to the group is treated as more significant than any other virtues with the end results of suppressing dissent and alternative views. Groupthink mentalities are common in corporations or committees. It entails other forms of lies such as denial, omission, selective memory, ignoring of facts, etc. (Ericsson 413).
Eighth, Out-and-Out Lies: this can be termed as the best form of lying as it leaves the victim trying to find out the real meaning of circumstances. When this category of lies is told, it can easily be confronted because the person being lied to has a place to stand and figure out the truth (Ericsson 414).
Ninth, lying through dismissal: it is the worst form of lies. Dismissing perceptions, feelings, and even the slightest facts of an episode rank as one of the lies that do lots of harm to an individual as any other lie. The origin of most mental and psychological disorders is the dismissal of facts (Ericsson 414).
Dismissal must have a range. Minor dismissals can sometimes be handy for forgiving the weaknesses of others in our daily lives. In many instances, young kids who have mastered to manipulate the attention of parents are often dismissed out of necessity. Nevertheless, parents need to be careful on how far they can take dismissal out of necessity (Ericsson 415).
Finally, lying through delusion: this type is closely related to dismissal. It is the tendency to consider excuses as facts. It is a powerful instrument of lying since it filters out details that contradict what people want to hear. Drunkards who believe that challenges they encounter are real motives for drinking rather than what the outcomes of alcohol offer (Ericsson 415. This is the classic scenario of deluded thinking. Delusion diverts the mind’s ability to see things as they are and opt to support what it perceives as true. Besides, delusion is a survival technique used by many people. It acts as an adhesive to maintain the status quo. It employs the combination of amnesia, omission, dismissal among other sorts of lies. Its greatest defense is that it cannot see itself (Ericsson 415).
Conclusion
Lying is to act or give a statement with the intention of concealing some truths from people who should have it. Also, it is any purposeful behavior that is intended to give a wrong or false impression from what the actual picture is. This means that we have different types of lies which fall under various categories. First, the white lie: where culprits posit that it is good to tell a lie if it can save a situation than the truth which can hurt the intended person. Secondly, use of facades: where people dress or behave artificially to advance a false impression. The third one entails neglecting the ugly truth and failing to act according to expectations, for example, the church which failed to sack or prosecute a priest who molested kids now and again but rather transferred him to another station. The fourth one is deflection. Fifth is an omission of some information to hide the reality. Sixth is lying through stereotypes and clichés. Seventh is groupthink. Then follows Out-and-Out lies, dismissal, and delusion following each other in eighth, ninth and tenth position respectively. Lying comes in several ways, and those advancing the falsehoods may not be aware. People need to learn about this vice to avoid victimization.
Work cited
Ericsson, Stephanie. "The Ways We Lie." Patterns for College Writing: ARhetorical Reader and Guide. 9th ed. Ed. Laurie G. Krizner and Stephen R. Mandell. New York. Bedford (2004): 612-15.
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