Ask Lemmy

Nope. About eight years ago, I became convinced that lying is almost never justified - not even white lies. Since then, I can remember only one lie I’ve told: I reflexively told a beggar I didn’t have any cash, even though I did.

Other than that, I can’t think of a single lie. That doesn’t mean I’m brutally honest - I still might choose to not tell something - but I haven’t said anything untrue. What’s interesting is that once I committed to living by this principle, lying stopped even being an option in my mind. In everyday interactions, my default is simply to say what I actually think, not what I think people want to hear.

Another interesting thing is that once you stop lying yourself, you start noticing just how much everyone else does it. And people seem totally oblivious to it. They’ll lie to a third party right in front of you, apparently unaware they’re revealing their own character - not to the person they’re lying to, but to everyone else around them. If I see you lying to someone else, it’s safe to assume you’d lie to me too.

What baffles me is how many lies are completely unnecessary. Like when people start making excuses to a telemarketer instead of just saying they’re not interested. You’re not even sparing the other person’s feelings - you’re protecting your own.