Lying Obsessions and Consequences
Why is lying so appealing to us?
By Roma Blackham, Marketing —
Lies, sadly, have become an intricate part of our society. We tell white lies to our grandmothers and friends to spare feelings. We tell lies to save ourselves from embarrassment. We even call in sick to get a free day once in a while. It would be rare to find someone who has never lied. Indeed, you have only to mention politics to discover how every past and present politician has lied to citizens. Lawyers have been stereotyped as people who twist the truth to get what they want. Sales people and advertisers embellish the truth to sell products, and publicists tell half-truths to preserve their clients’ reputations. It would seem that everyone and almost every profession at some point constructs lies. So the question is, “Why is lying so appealing to us?”
Why We Lie
According to Dr. Phil, the three main reasons that people lie are
- to escape accountability,
- to get access to things that they wouldn’t otherwise have, and
- to embellish reality.
Dr. Phil recently addressed these motivations while interviewing 20-year-old Allie, whose parents claim that her lying has gotten out of hand. Her lies have landed her parents in jail. Allie’s family has lost friends, been fined over $100,000 in legal fees, and lost its family business. Currently, Allie’s stepfather is facing charges for statutory rape—something he says he never did.
Consequences
In this case, Allie has admitted that she lies but she does not always remember doing it. This causes problems when trying to uncover the truth—especially when the potential lies have such drastic consequences as in the case of Allie and her parents.
Uncovering Truth
When the truth is hard to discover, sometimes it is necessary to bring in an objective third party. In this case, EyeDetect could be a valuable asset to the parents. Through analyzing eye behavior, EyeDetect tests could be used to determine whether the parents are telling the truth and if their daughter is indeed lying. This alternative to the polygraph test would be a valuable asset to finding the truth and bringing light to a muddled case.
Photo courtesy of Alan Cleaver.
