A lie, is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement with the intention to deceive, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, to protect someone's feelings from getting hurt, or to avoid punishment. Deception (also called beguilement or subterfuge) is the act of convincing another to believe Information that is not true or not the whole truth as in Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal usually in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior To lie is to state something one believes is false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by someone else. See False for other meanings of false FALSE is an esoteric programming language designed by Wouter van Oortmerssen in The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality A liar is a person who is lying, who has previously lied, or who tends by nature to lie repeatedly.

Lying is typically used to refer to deceptions in oral or written communication. Other forms of deception, such as disguises or forgeries, are generally not considered lies, though the underlying intent may be the same; however, even a true statement can be considered a lie if the person making that statement is doing so to deceive. Deception (also called beguilement or subterfuge) is the act of convincing another to believe Information that is not true or not the whole truth as in In this situation, it is the intent of being untruthful rather than the truthfulness of the statement itself that is considered.

Classification

Types of lies

The various types of lies include the following:

Bald-faced lie

A bald-faced (or barefaced) lie is a lie that is told when it is obvious to all concerned that it is a lie. For example, a child who has chocolate all over his face and denies that he has not eaten the last piece of chocolate cake, is a bald-faced liar.

Lying by omission

One lies by omission by omitting an important fact, deliberately leaving another person with a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing misconceptions.

Lie-to-children

A lie-to-children is a lie, often a platitude that may use euphemism(s), that is told to make an adult subject acceptable to children. A lie-to-children is an expression that describes the simplification of technical or difficult to understand material for consumption by children A platitude is a trite meaningless biased or prosaic Statement that is presented as if it were significant and original A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener or in the case of doublespeak A common example is "The stork brought you. "

White lie

A white lie would cause no discord if it were uncovered and offers some benefit to the liar, the hearer, or both. White lies are often used to avoid offense, such as telling someone that you think that their new outfit looks good when you actually think that it is actually a horrible excuse for an outfit. In this case, the lie is told to avoid the harmful implications and realistic implications of the truth. As a concept, it is largely defined by local custom and cannot be clearly separated from regular lies with any authority. As such, the term may have differing meanings in different cultures. Lies that are harmless but told for no reason are generally not called white lies.

Noble lie

A noble lie is one that would normally cause discord if it were uncovered, but that offers some benefit to the liar and perhaps assist in an orderly society and thus potentially gives some benefit to others also. In politics a noble lie is a Myth or untruth, often but not invariably of a religious nature knowingly told by an Elite to maintain social harmony particularly It is often told to maintain law, order and safety. A noble lie usually has the effect of helping an elite maintain power. Elite (also spelled Élite) is taken originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect"

Emergency lie

An emergency lie is a strategic lie told when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to a third party would come of it. For example, a neighbour might lie to an enraged husband about the whereabouts of his unfaithful wife, because said husband might reasonably be expected to inflict physical injury should he encounter his wife in person. Alternatively, a (temporary) lie told to a second person because of the presence of a third.

Perjury

Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful.

Bluffing

Pretending to have a capability or intention one doesn't. Bluffing is an act of deception that is not usually seen as immoral because it takes place in the context of a game where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. In the card game of Poker, to bluff is to bet or raise with an inferior hand For instance, a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards than he really does, or an athlete who indicates he will move left and then actually dodges right, is not considered to be lying. In these situations, deception is accepted as a tactic and even expected.

Misleading

A misleading statement is one where there isn't an outright lie, but still has the purpose of making someone believe in an untruth. Deception (also called beguilement or subterfuge) is the act of convincing another to believe Information that is not true or not the whole truth as in

Dissembling

"Dissemble" is a polite term for lying, though some might consider it to refer to being merely misleading. It is most commonly considered to be a euphemism for lying. A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener or in the case of doublespeak

Exaggeration

An exaggeration occurs when the most fundamental aspect(s) of a statement is true, but the degree to which it is true is not correct. Hyperbole (haɪˈpɝːbəli hye-PER-buh-lee; "HYE-per-bowl" is a mispronunciation comes from Greek "υπερβολή" (meaning exaggeration and is a Exaggerations are lies even though the person may not be aware that the statement it is untrue to a certain level.

Jocose lies

Jocose lies are lies that are meant in jest and are usually understood as such by all present parties. Sarcasm can be one example. Sarcasm is stating the opposite of an intended meaning especially in order to sneeringly slyly jest or mock a person situation or thing A more elaborate example is seen in storytelling traditions that are present in some places, where the humour comes from the storyteller's insistence that he or she is telling the absolute truth despite all evidence to the contrary (i. Storytelling is the ancient art of conveying events in Words Images and Sounds often by Improvisation or embellishment e. , tall tale). Tall Tale, also known as Tall Tale The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill is a 1995 family Western movie starring Patrick There is debate about whether these are "real lies", and different philosophers hold different views (see below).

Bragging

A Bragging is a kind of lie told to build up a reputation, such as saying "I own a billion-dollar car and house. Symbel, the Germanic custom of ritual drinking Self-esteem Hubris human (primate display and "

Augustine's taxonomy of lies

The origin of the word "lie" is generally ascribed to Middle English from around 900 AD. ^[1]. However, Augustine of Hippo wrote his book De Mendacio "Of Lying" as part of his work: "Retractions" ^[2] in 395 AD. He had previously written two other books on the subject: a "Book on Lying" and "Against Lying". In "Of Lying" he writes that he is reconciling his two previous works, and addressing the great question of lying, which he felt was an urgent need of his time. He began: "Magna quæstio est de Mendacio. " From his text it can be derived that St Augustine divided lies into eight kinds, listed in order of descending severity:

1. Lies in religious teaching.
2. Lies that harm others and help no one.
3. Lies that harm others and help someone.
4. Lies told for the pleasure of lying.
5. Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse. "
6. Lies that harm no one and that help someone.
7. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's life.
8. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's "purity. "

Augustine believed that "jocose lies" are not, in fact, lies.

Psychology of lying

The capacity to lie is noted early and nearly universally in human development. Social psychology and developmental psychology are concerned with the theory of mind, which people employ to simulate another's reaction to their story and determine if a lie will be believable. Social psychology is the study of how people and groups interact " Theory of mind " is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs intents desires pretending knowledge etc The most commonly cited milestone, what is known as Machiavellian intelligence, is at the age of about four and a half years, when children begin to be able to lie convincingly. In Cognitive science and Evolutionary psychology, Machiavellian intelligence (also known as political intelligence or social intelligence Before this, they seem simply unable to comprehend that anyone doesn't see the same view of events that they do -- and seem to assume that there is only one point of view: their own -- that must be integrated into any given story. Perspective in theory of Cognition is the choice of a context or a Reference (or the result of this choice from which to Sense, Categorize

Young children learn from experience that stating an untruth can avoid punishment for misdeeds, before they develop the theory of mind necessary to understand why it works. In this stage of development, children will sometimes tell fantastic and unbelievable lies because they lack the conceptual framework to judge whether a statement is believable or even to understand the concept of believability.

When children first learn how lying works, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from doing it. A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event It takes years of watching people lie and the results of lies to develop a proper understanding. Propensity to lie varies greatly between children, some doing so habitually and others being habitually honest. Habits in this regard are likely to change into early adulthood.

Pseudologia fantastica is a term applied by psychiatrists to the behaviour of habitual or compulsive lying. Pseudologia fantastica, or pathological lying, is one of several terms applied by Psychiatrists to the behaviour of habitual or compulsive lying. A psychiatrist (also archaically called an alienist) is a Physician who specializes in Psychiatry and is certified in treating Mental disorders

Morality of lying

The philosophers Saint Augustine, as well as Thomas Aquinas and Immanuel Kant, condemned all lying. Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Immanuel Kant (ɪmanuəl kant 22 April 1724 12 February 1804 was an 18th-century German Philosopher from the Prussian city of Königsberg However, Thomas Aquinas also had an argument for lying. According to all three, there are no circumstances in which one may lie. One must be murdered, suffer torture, or endure any other hardship, rather than lie, even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments against lying, all compatible with each other. Among the more important arguments are:

1. Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to communicate the thoughts of the speaker. Perversion is a concept describing those types of Human behavior that are perceived to be a serious deviation from what is considered to be orthodox or normal
2. When one lies, one undermines trust in society. Trust is a relationship of reliance A trusted party is presumed to seek to fulfill policies, ethical codes Law and their previous promises A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions

Lying in the Bible

The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie (Num 23:19, Ps 89:35, Hab. In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin 2:3, Heb 6:13-18).

The Old Testament adds that God hates a lying tongue (Prov 6:16-19, Ps. 5:6) and forbids men to lie (Lev 19:11, Pr. 14:5, Pr. 30:6, Zep 3:13 ) or to take refuge in lies (Isa 28:15, Da 11:27). Most famously, lying is forbidden in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (Exodus 20:2-17, Deuteronomy 5:6-21) a specific reference to perjury, but taken to have wider application. Exodus ( Greek: έξοδος eksodos = "departure" is the second book of the Jewish Torah and of the Christian Old Testament. Deuteronomy (Greek deuteronomion, Δευτερονόμιον "second law" is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament

Old Testament accounts of lying include:^[3]

• The Hebrew midwives lied to the king of Egypt rather than carry out his order to kill all male Hebrew babies; the midwives did this because they “feared God” (Exodus 1:15–20).
• Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Joshua 2:4–5) and was not killed with those who were disobedient because of her faith (Hebrews 11:31).
• Delilah repeatedly accused Samson of lying to her (Jg. 16:10, 13) as she interrogated him about the source of his strength.
• Abraham instructs his wife, Sarai, to lie to the Egyptians and say that she is his sister (Gen 12:10), which leads to the Lord punishing the Egyptians (Gen 12:17-19).

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands "Do not lie to one another" (Colossians 3:9, Cf. The Devil is the Leviticus 19:11). Jesus would seem to tell a lie to the Apostles in John 7:8-10, when He says "Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet full come," but then later on goes up to attend the same festival. However, this is not a lie, because he wasn't ready at that moment of time to go to the festival. Jesus did not say that he was not going to the festival at all-it was that he did not yet go to the festival.

Among those who conclude that the Bible contains lies and intentional untruths is Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 1743 – July 4 1826 was the third President of the United States (1801–1809 the principal author of the Declaration of Independence He edited his own version of the bible and omitted what he considered to be falsehoods. In describing the Bible, Jefferson wrote of "so much untruth, charlatanism and imposture", "roguery", "dupes and impostors", "corruptor" and "falsifications". ^[4]

Consequences of lying

Once a lie has been told there can be two alternative consequences: it may be discovered or remain undiscovered.

• Discovery of a lie tends to discredit other statements by the same speaker and can lead to social or legal sanctions against the speaker, such as ostracizing or conviction for perjury. Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under Oath or Affirmation in a Another consequence of a discovered lie is that it undermines trust which is a binding agent of human relations. One trusts that another is truthful. When a lie is discovered then the state of mind and behavior of the lie teller is no longer predictable. Trust then decreases and is perhaps even completely withdrawn.
• An undiscovered lie is a latent danger to the liar who is probably aware that it may be discovered, especially if that would lead to the sanctions above, as when the liar has obtained some unjust advantage by telling the lie.

Deception and lies in other species

The capacity to lie has also been claimed to be possessed by non-humans in language studies with Great Apes. One famous case was that of Koko the gorilla; confronted by her handlers after a tantrum in which she had torn a steel sink out of its moorings, she signed in American Sign Language, "cat did it," pointing at her tiny kitten. Koko (born July 4, 1971, in San Francisco California) is a Lowland gorilla who according to Francine 'Penny' Patterson, is able Gorillas, the largest of the living Primates are ground-dwelling Herbivores that inhabit the Forests of Africa. American Sign Language (or ASL Ameslan is the dominant Sign language of the Deaf community in the United States, in the English-speaking parts It is unclear if this was a joke or a genuine attempt at blaming her tiny pet. To blame is to hold another person or group responsible for perceived faults whether these faults are real imagined or merely invented for pejorative purposes Deceptive body language, such as feints that mislead as to the intended direction of attack or flight, is observed in many species including wolves. The grey wolf or gray wolf ( Canis lupus) also known as the timber wolf or simply wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora A mother bird deceives when it pretends to have a broken wing to divert the attention of a perceived predator -- including unwitting humans -- from the eggs in its nest to itself, most notably the Killdeer. The killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus) is a medium-sized Plover.

Paradoxes about lying

Within any scenario where dualistic (e. g. , yes/no, black/white) answers are always given, a person who we know is consistently lying would paradoxically be a source of truth. There are many such paradoxes, the most famous one being known as the liar paradox, commonly expressed as "This sentence is a lie," or "This sentence is false. A paradox is a true statement or group of statements that leads to a Contradiction or a situation which defies intuition; or inversely In Philosophy and Logic, the liar paradox, known to the ancients as the pseudomenon, encompasses Paradoxical statements such as "This " The so-called Epimenides paradox — "All Cretans are liars," as stated by Epimenides the Cretan — is a forerunner of this, though its status as a paradox is disputed. The Epimenides paradox is a problem in Logic. It is named after the Cretan Philosopher Epimenides of Knossos (alive circa 600 BC Epimenides of Knossos ( Crete) (Greek) was a semi- mythical 6th century BC Greek seer and Philosopher - poet A class of related logic puzzles are known as knights and knaves, in which the goal is to determine who of a group of people is lying and who is telling the truth. Knights and Knaves is a type of Logic puzzle devised by Raymond Smullyan.

Lie detection

Main article: Polygraph

Some people may be better "lie detectors" than others, better able to distinguish a lie by facial expression, cadence of speech, and other methods. A polygraph (popularly referred to as a Lie detector) is an instrument that measures and records several physiological responses such as Blood pressure According to David J. Lieberman PhD in Never Be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth in Five Minutes or Less in Any Conversation or Situation, these methods can be learned. Some methods of questioning may be more likely to elicit the truth eg "when was the last time you smoked marijuana?" is more likely to get a truthful answer than "do you smoke pot?". Asking the question most likely to get the information you want is a skill and can be learned. Avoiding vague questioning will help avoid lies of omission or vagueness.

The question of whether lies can reliably be detected through nonverbal means is a subject of some controversy. Nonverbal communication (NVC is usually understood as the process of Communication through sending and receiving Wordless messages

• Polygraph "lie detector" machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a number of measures while he/she gives statements or answers questions. Lie detection is the practice of determining whether someone is Lying. Spikes in stress are purported to indicate lying. The accuracy of this method is widely disputed, and in several well-known cases it was proven to have been deceived. Nonetheless, it remains in use in many areas, primarily as a method for eliciting confessions or employment screening. Polygraph results are not admissible as court evidence and are generally perceived to be pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is defined as a body of knowledge methodology belief or practice that is claimed to be Scientific or made to appear scientific but does not adhere to the *Various truth drugs have been proposed and used anecdotally, though none are considered very reliable. A truth drug (or truth serum) is a Psychoactive drug used to attempt to obtain information from an unwilling subject most often by a police intelligence or military The CIA attempted to find a universal "truth serum" in the MK-ULTRA project, but it was largely a fiasco. near as long as it used to be several months ago It has been actively summarized and split into sub-articles and there is a dynamic talk page discussion of all

Representations of lying

• Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio is a wooden puppet often led into trouble by his propensity to lie. Carlo Lorenzini ( November 24, 1826 &ndash October 26, 1890) better known by the Pen name C Pinocchio (piˈnɔkːjo in Italian is a fictional character that first appeared in 1883, in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and His nose grows with every lie. A long nose has thus become a caricature of liars. A caricature is either a Portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness or in literature a description
• In the film Liar Liar, the lawyer Fletcher Reed (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours due to a wish of his son which magically came true. Liar Liar is a 1997 American Comedy film written by Paul Guay and Stephen Mazur directed by Tom Shadyac and starring Jim Carrey James Eugene Redmond "Jim" Carrey (born January 17 1962 is a Canadian-American Film actor and Comedian.
• In the 1985 Max Headroom, the title character comments that one can always tell when a politician lies because "their lips move". The joke has been widely repeated and rephrased.
• In the film Big Fat Liar, the story which producer Marty Wolf, a notorious and proud liar himself, steals from student Jason Shepard tells of a character whose lies become out of control to the point each lie he tells causes him to grow in size. Big Fat Liar is a 2002 American Comedy film, directed by Shawn Levy and starring Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti

Covering up Lies

Sir Walter Scott's famous couplet "Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practice to deceive!" describes the often difficult procedure of covering up a lie so that it is not detected at some future time. Sir Walter Scott 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 &ndash 21 September 1832 was a prolific Scottish Historical novelist and Poet popular throughout

In "Human, All Too Human" philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that those who refrain from lying may do so only because of the difficulty involved in maintaining the lie. Human All Too Human ( Menschliches Allzumenschliches) subtitled A Book for Free Spirits ( Ein Buch für freie Geister) is a book by 19th century philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15 1844 August 25 1900 ( was a nineteenth-century German philosopher and classical philologist This is consistent with his general philosophy that divides or ranks people according to strength and ability; thus, some people tell the truth only out of weakness. A similar explanation is given by Paul Ekman in Why Don't We Catch Liars?

Evolution, game theory, and the lie

Meanwhile, although most human societies have developed moral, ethical, or religious codes prohibiting lying, it would appear that other animals on this planet engage in deception quite regularly and that the deceit has been the result of and promoted by all the usual evolutionary forces. Paul Ekman (born 1934 is a Psychologist who has been a pioneer in the study of Emotions and their relation to Facial expressions He is considered one of

Deception by predators and prey

Specifically, predation often employs deception, as does avoidance of predation. A predator is deceptive if in the process of acquiring prey it conceals its location, uses camouflage capabilities of its skin and appendages, or dangles an appendage as a bait. Camouflage is a method of cryptic or concealing coloration that allows an otherwise visible Organism A prey is deceptive if it uses camouflage to conceal itself or make it seem to be larger than it is or seem to be another species that is poisonous or distasteful to the predator (compare viceroy butterfly to monarch butterfly). The Viceroy Butterfly ( Limenitis archippus) is a North American Butterfly with a range from the Northwest Territories along the eastern edges The monarch ( Danaus plexippus) is a Milkweed butterfly ( Subfamily Danainae in the family Nymphalidae.

Such capabilities to deceive likely developed very gradually during evolution and likely began as very small changes in the appearance or behavior of some organisms. As the changes brought advantage to the organism it may therefore have increased in number due to that advantage, and due to continued pressure from a predator or scarcity of prey the advantage locked in and became a trait of that creature.

Game Theory of Evolution

This incorporation of deception into schemes of evolutionary advantage is a concept treated in the study of evolutionary game theory. Evolutionary game theory (EGT is the application of interaction dependent strategy drift in populations to Game theory. Evolutionary game theory assumes that creatures are often in resource conflict or in predator/prey relationships with each other and develop strategies for advantage gain or loss reduction.

Innate or reasoned behaviour?

These strategies may or may not be the result of some reasoning capabilities of the creature. In some cases the environment interacting with the way a creature has evolved so far creates the strategies for the creature without it needing any reasoning faculties. In other cases, there may be a combination of some reasoning and some environmentally formed deceptive abilities. The crocodile seems to know that if it drifts slowly, like a log, towards a wildebeest drinking at the edge of the river the wildebeest will not be alarmed and run away. The crocodile both resembles a log, having been shaped that way by evolutionary forces, and has some reasoning faculties.

So-called animal "cunning"

Over eons this ability to deceive became built into and a natural part of many species. Humans have used the word "cunning" to represent this ability in the non-human animal world.

Famous fairy tales based on lying

• Pinocchio, a wooden puppet who turns into a real boy, where his nose grows bigger and longer each time he tells a lie. Pinocchio (piˈnɔkːjo in Italian is a fictional character that first appeared in 1883, in The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, and
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Boy Who Cried Wolf, also known as The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, is a Fable attributed to Aesop (210 in Perry's numbering system and written

See also

References

Sources