The Ways We Lie By Stephanie Ericsson

Lying has is a part of our culture, and it seems as if not a day goes by where you do not lie at all. Our world could not exist as it does, if we lived in a society in which lying did not exist. However as humans, we are prone to lying, because of our need to protect ourselves, or the ones close to us, that we turn to lying in order to either make our lives easier or to avoid problems. Humans have adapted over time into societies where lying is an evolutionary advantage, which has made it a part of our DNA. Even children, as soon as they can talk, are using deception as a way to get what they want, and these children have not even had a chance to learn to lie. Lying also continues throughout our entire lives, because it is not something that we can help, it is a part of who we are. When evaluating the argument Stephanie Ericsson makes in “The Ways We Lie”, regarding the reasons we chose to lie, however it is also important to consider extending the argument to include the idea that lying is not only a daily occurrence, it has also become imbedded into human nature.

In this essay, The Ways We Lie, Ericsson writes examples of lies we tell daily. She explains that not all the lies we tell are intentional. We choose to make life easier by lying. This essay also highlights situations that occur in everyday life. Ericson explains that “The white lie assumes that the truth will cause more damage than a simple, harmless untruth.” (89) She then continue to explain that a “white lie” can be dangerous simply because telling the truth could ease a lot of pain.

There comes a time in every persons life where they feel a burning sensation to lie, but is it worth it? Don’t they feel the shame and the guilt of that lie? On average, people lie between ten to two hundred times a day. But doesn't all of that lying come with a lot of conflict and trouble? The more that you lie the more conflict arises by avoiding truth then if it were to be faced head-on.

In the essay The Ways We Lie, author Stephanie Ericsson writes in depth about the different types of lies used by most people everyday. While listing examples of them, Ericsson questions her own experiences with lying and whether or not it was appropriate. By using hypothetical situations, true accounts, and personal occurrences, she highlights the moral conflicts and consequences that are a result of harmless fibs or impactful deceptions. In an essay detailing the lies told to ourselves and others, Ericsson points out one bold truth; everyone lies. Through her writing, Ericsson causes the reader to look into how they’ve lied in the past and how to effects others and the general greater good of society.

Lies, they're everywhere, are they worth the trouble? Throughout these three articles, “It’s the truth”, “Honestly tell the truth”, and “Rejecting all lies”, the authors precisely analyze who agrees, and who doesn’t agree with lying, and why. Lying may be the first thing to come to mind when in a bad situation, but does anyone realize how much damage it can cause towards the other person or to the liar themselves?

Have you ever wondered why it can be so hard to tell the truth, or why it seems better to tell a lie? In both F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Rob Marshall’s Chicago, characters lie because they feel that it is easier. However, lying leads to a downward- spiral. The society we live in can either lead us to a complicated relationship with the truth or easy going. The problem with constantly telling lies is that it starts off with one then leads to another until everything you say is a lie. People know it is easier to tell lies than face the truth because they are either doing it for money, or protection for themselves, people they love, or relationships. Yes, telling lies can help but imagine the damage you’re building up on the way. Nobody likes liars and liars can be found anywhere, even families lie to each other. Relationships are just like thin pieces of paper that make small tears to it every time a lie is told. The paper can be put back together but it will never be the same or be seen the same.

A lie is considered a false statement given to fool someone. At some point throughout the day everyone will stretch the truth. Are lies just really some version of the truth or are they bold and deliberate? Lying is discussed in-depth in "The Ways We Lie" by Stephanie Ericsson and in the article "Is Lying Bad for Us" by Richard Gunderman. The two articles discuss the types of lies, reasons people lie and the consequences suffered by all. It can be determined after reading the texts that lying causes undue stress and telling the truth is beneficial in more ways than one.

Lying is evolving into normalcy. Since there are several types of lying, there are loopholes and ways that people defend themselves for telling untruths. For example, we tell lies in order to evade trouble or consequences but tell ourselves that it is better or easier that way. Ericsson claims, “We lie. We all do. We exaggerate, we minimize,

“Like most people, I indulge in small falsehoods and still think of myself as an honest person. Sure I lie, but it doesn’t hurt anything. Or does it” (3)? The selection lists ten types of lies. Those types are: the white lie, facades, ignoring the plain facts, deflecting, omission, stereotypes and cliché, groupthink, out-and-out lies, dismissal, and delusion. The white lie is used when the truth is more harmful than a lie. A facade is when you hide your true self and put on a mask for

Stephanie Ericsson categorizes the many ways people lie on a daily basis. She uses a mixture of facts, quotes and opinions to capture the severity of telling a lie. Her article has enabled me to understand the thought process that goes behind telling a lie. She justifies minor lies by using ethos and stating that minor lies prevents hurt feelings and that it is normal to lie. Stephanie frequently asks rhetorical questions to make readers think of the matter at hand. She also uses anaphora to seem more relatable and understanding to her readers. I tell minor lies on a daily basis but I did not realize that there is so many different types of lies. i and many other people often rationalize with ourselves to make our lies seem less harmful when

Often times we feel as if our kind are born to do nothing but lie, but as Frederick Douglass once said, “Mankind are not held together by lies. Trust is the foundation of society. Where there is no truth, there can be no trust, and where there is no trust, there can be no society. Where there is society, there is trust, and where there is trust, there is something upon which it is supported.” I couldn’t agree more. There is no way that man can be held together by lies, because lies do not exist. They are merely artificially fabricated un-realisms in the form of a hodgepodge cocktail consisting of 5% truth, 95% falsity, and 100% immorality. Lies, though non-existent outside of words, can still demolish trust of any strength.

. When someone tells a lie they are trying to artifice someone into believing something else which is very disrespectful. People who assert lies face consequences,such as having the reputation of being not trustworthy. When one has a reputation of being trustworthy people would not want to be friends with that person and would not want to communicate with them. .A

I agree with Mark Twain's point more than Ericsson's claim in that lying is more of a way for us humans to escape our problems. "For the Lie, as a Virtue, A Principle, is eternal; the Lie, as a recreation, a solace, a refuge in time of need, the fourth Grace, the tenth Muse man's best and surest friend, is immortal” (Twain 1). This quote is significant because it shows how lying is not a sin as most people see it, since most people take it as a principle to worship similar

Lies often overcomplicate situations by causing a person to have to continually tell more lies to cover up the original, when he or she could have just told the truth in the beginning. However, the problem is that the other option is not always so great either. The truth is perfectly honest, and that can cause one to get in trouble. I believe the main reason why we, as humans, lie is to protect ourselves and to protect the things for which we have much affection. Once, I had told a lie to keep myself from getting into more trouble than telling the truth would gotten me. This lie protected from losing what was the most important thing I had at the time, my freedom. This is the story of the time I lied to protect my freedom.

Imagine a world, where everything said by anyone was a lie. How would anything get one? How would information get shared? How would trust be found? Our current world and society is accepting lying a lot more than we should, and we are practically letting people lie to us without doing anything to stop them. We tend to just ignore the lying, and let it happen, since we do not let it affect us, but we still let it happen. Lying is used on a daily basis in our world, be it by you, your friends, your family, or some company that you have never heard of before. No progress in anything would ever be made in the world, since everyone thinks that everyone is lying. If everyone in the world is this paranoid about information sharing