…the world will come crushing down!
I believe lies are a part of life. Honestly. Sometimes you just can’t tell a person face-to-face something terrible but true. Like saying to a girl:
You are pretty ugly, dear. And rather stupid. There’s not a chance in this universe we will be dating.
Try saying it and you might imagine what comes next.
Yes, I go for a world of truth but the reality, life itself, shows us that it can’t always be done.
I won’t even mention politicians and experts of any kind. These guys are integrated into telling lies or, at least, not the whole truth. Luckily, we know about that or otherwise you’d be very naïve to believe everything Putin or Trump or anyone else says. This is just a part of the game.
Yet, I also believe that the world of absolute, 100% pure life just wouldn’t exist.
We, the humans, are built to believe what other people say. This is our default setting. It’s imprinted into our minds. And when somebody says a lie, we, if detected, are not happy about it. On the other hand, we ourselves sometime can be liberal about truth. Well, we understand it and don’t always feel comfortable about it.
Anyway, just imagine that someone at the office tells you:
Dude, I don’t like you! I feel you simply not smart enough and also feel uncomfortable communicating to you.
How would you like it?
Well, I’d rather have a little lie in my life, both ways.
If we can’t lie, what would happen?
I don’t know – oh damn, I didn’t have to admit that, because I can still lie!! Anyway, here we go.
Maybe the saddest change would be no Father Christmas for millions of children around the globe.
On a positive note, criminals would be prosecuted with great swiftness and rapidity, as they need only to be asked one question: ”Did you do it?”
No more polite white lies to escape hurt feelings..(“Does my bum look big in these trousers?” “Yes dear, remarkably big……” or “How does this dress suit me?” “Very badly dear, you look like a trollop….”)
In politics, leaders would have to admit to corruption, and incompetence, and who would ever vote for them in the first place if they were totally truthful about their ambitions?
Imagine the multitude of answers to a simple question: “How are you?” “Actually, I resent you for your selfishness, your general appearance, and your disgusting body odour.”
Economically, I see today’s industries collapsing. Advertising would slant away from persuasive allure to brutal honesty. “This product is mediocre at best, and our mark-up of 500 percent is because we know you will buy it anyway…..” Stock markets would be in tatters as investors openly express fears,
International diplomacy wouldn’t exist, with nations stating: “We want your resources and we won’t compromise..”, which of course would never happen today, *cough*
Professionals like therapists couldn’t offer reassuring phrases like: “Things will get better in time”, instead they will admit “I don’t know if you will ever get better..”
In sport, maybe a referee will finally admit: “Yes, I had a stinker, and I completely missed that obvious penalty.”
Dating, I fear, would become virtually an impossibility. Imagine this on a Tinder profile: “I’m 58, 5’6”, overweight, emotionally unstable and still living with my mother.”
How about customer service? What customer service? “Your call is important to us. Is it hell. There are 97 people ahead of you, so we’re hoping you’ll just give up.”
Despite these examples, I need to ask whether our world without lies would actually be a better world. Lies are certainly not all equal.
So, perhaps civilisation doesn’t actually run on truth, but instead on a complex mix of truth, lies, tact, fantasy, exaggeration and selective silence.
If we couldn’t lie, would we become better people as a result, or would we simply end up as a society of brutally honest, thoroughly miserable people?
I reckon it’s the latter, but don’t take my word for it – because, you know, it may just be an untruth.
If we can’t lie, what will happen?
I spent a few minutes thinking about this and the more I consider the idea, the less clear it becomes. Let me give you an example; Jewish biblical historians and archeologists now say the whole Moses roaming the desert for forty years story is exactly that, a story, nothing more. Why? If thousands of people lived in a dry desert that long, there would still be signs an archeologist could read today. Lots of fire pits, bones of all kinds, graves filled with personal effects. Pottery, beads, even clothing. But there is nothing there.
In short, even Israelis say it was a lie. Of course, we don’t use those words and in fact, the bible is used as a historical document by secular scholars. But the actual fable of Israelites roaming the desert is a lie. So, most religions would simply disappear if faith and stories were not good enough.
I think many governments would also quickly disappear. Example: There has never been one Phase 3, Communist nation in history. Not one. There are a number of authoritarian governments calling themselves Communist but they all lie. I am forced to admit, my own nation belongs in this same camp. The US is not a real democracy. Even the democratic facade is too much for some politicians. As far as I can tell, a number of nations around the globe fall into this category. Would you call it a kleptocracy run by oligarchs?
Turning to personal interactions, I will lie at the drop of a hat. Tell me your dead mother made that nasty purple blouse with gross, green polka-dots and I will discover the most beautiful article of clothing ever made by human hands. I’ll complement people for mediocre achievements. Yeah, that’s a lie but I’ll argue it made someone feel a little better and cost me nothing.
A doctor will tell an obese patent he’ll be dead in one year if he doesn’t lose one-hundred pounds. Of course it’s a lie, the doctor has no way of knowing that. But scaring someone will change that person’s life for the better… and yeah, it will extend their life expectancy greatly.
So, a lie is like a hammer; it can be used for good or evil. Would the world be a better place if we couldn’t lie? On the whole, maybe but I think most personal relationships would suffer. Most children would have self-image issues and billions of people would never reach their full potential. To tell the truth, I think I’ll keep lying.