Lying

[billy]

Lying, when you disscuss some of these questions do you lie? if so how much. playing devils advocate is lying if one doesn't stipulate the fact before hand.

how much would you lie in order to win an argument, do you quote prefabricated surveys etc? if you say you never lied, would you be lying?

[abu nuwas]

I don't know about lying; being economical with the truth, perhaps, and never to win an argument. However, with the exception of Leanne, who has owned up to not having read Kafka, I think I would have expected more people to say ''I never heard of that guy'', but that may be because I am so ill-read myself. That is not lying though.

Likewise, I have sometimes let people build the image of the English fop which they for some reason acquire.

[billy]

i shouldn't really say this, and i could be lying when i do, but i often lie. in discussions i sometimes randomly pick a side and defend it at all costs. just for the fun of it. if it's not the side i would choose in real life i often resort to lies. they're a wonderful invention
outside the net i do the same though after the discussion is over i usually explain i was lying, or making things up. i seldom if ever lie about myself or experiences. i have before now created quotes and attributed them to great people, for that special effect . though i can't think of any off the top of my head.

[Leanne]

Taking a contrary position isn't lying, it's just not travelling your most truthful path Besides, that contrary position is probably true for someone, it's not entirely fabricated.

I don't deliberately make things up, because I am really too lazy to lie and then have to bother with keeping track of everything I've said. Occasionally I will change my position and some people consider that to be lying -- those who never change their mind about anything, that is, the rigid and usually bigoted kind. Some people get really upset about the silliest things, believing them to be evidence of inconsistency and therefore of untruth: "I copy/pasted a forum thread in which you stated clearly that your favourite icecream flavour was chocolate, and then on the 41th of Octember you categorically stated that vanilla is best. You are a liar."

It's lucky for those people that they live in an age of modern science and medicine, because at any other time in history they would probably have been considered to stupid to live.

[srijantje]

i can change my mind every nano second,that's not lying,just changing my mind,i wouldn;t lie about personal experiences,may over do it a bit

that's the problem with lying,you have to keep track of them,tiring

[billy]

i really do lie, i make thinks up tp prove my point etc. a bit like a conspiracy theorist except i don't believe what i actually say. apparently 62% of the population do the same thing (see the lie? )

[abu nuwas]

And how about jokes? or exaggeration? or shortening the chain to give a funny story more effect? Say someone I believe tells me some ludicrous thing happens to his mate-- if I retail it that way, it is all too far removed, and for some stories to be funny, they have to be true; so perhaps I might abridge the chain. Or if I see the full humour in something subtle, others may not, unless it is beefed up: I am doing them a favour.

Jokes can be treacherous, though. My wife and I met studying Russian, and one day, at coffee, I lay on the desks, and when s.o asked if I was not going to the canteen, I idly said no, I didn't have any money, and would not, until timber had been felled on the estate. She was v surprised when she came to see my parents, in an ordinary London suburb. It had not occurred to me that anyone believed it. And I am too lazy to remember great skeins of untruth. That's what poetry is for.

[billy]

hehe, i find that more funny and fun that lies, which i also find to be fun. i never lie to the police, with them it was always "no comment" i always lied to my solicitor though.
thinking about it, we are defined by lies. look at the lies we tell our kids etc, (oops that was off topic) (or maybe not) because of that we (I) tend to have an inherent ability to lie and if i may say so, lie well. i think i like discussion stroke discourse for that very reason, they give me the chance to hone a fib.

[Veronique]

No one has mentioned the 'vital lie.'

Ibsen-- The Wild Duck
O"Neill-- The Iceman Cometh
Gorky-- The Lower Depths

In each the lie is necessary.

But necessary for what?
v

[Leanne]

Well, that's obvious, V: to keep people believing in Santa Claus.

[srijantje]

how's the sex adaptation coming along V?

[Veronique]

Well, that's obvious, V: to keep people believing in Santa Claus.

******
That's the answer for Iceman.

v

[Leanne]

OK, so Ibsen: to let people believe Santa Claus isn't a paedophile; and Gorky: to make poor people feel better about having no chimneys.

[Veronique]

OK, so Ibsen: to let people believe Santa Claus isn't a paedophile; and Gorky: to make poor people feel better about having no chimneys.

Satin's (sp? children hung their stockings with care
in hopes of -- something to eat.

And no chimneys in Caesar's Roman time,
but in Julius Caesar find some.

v
Is 'Julius' spelled right?
Looks funny ...

[Leanne]

Looks bloody hilarious to me... but it's spelled right

Julius cursed his silly name
And wished his daddy never came

[Veronique]

Looks bloody hilarious to me... but it's spelled right

Julius cursed his silly name
And wished his daddy never came

Leanne dear,

Some Russian guy changed Caesar to Czar.
Maybe Caesar changed something else to
Caesar.
v
Is that preposition 'to' ok?
Looks funny.

[Leanne]

Caesar to Kaiser to Tsar to Czar
all of those words look a little bizarre

[Leanne]

it's enough to give the kaiser a seizure :p

[Wildcard]

I typed up a whole page of an answer to whether I lie or not and how much, but then I realized that most of it was exaggerated or abbreviated to make it sound better. My documentation then must be held accountable so that I can accurately describe my life's habitual lying influence.

I enlisted the aid of a dear friend, my iPhone. I began to document each and every lie I told during the day. I was at work that day.

6:14am
Boss lady comes outside and says 'You forgot to clock in this morning. What time did you get here?'
I lie and say, '5:57'

I actually got there and 6:04 and purposely neglected to clock in because I knew she would fix my time and then I wouldn't be tardy and lose a quarter of an hour.

Why I chose 5:57, I'm not sure. I think it just sounded believable.

I lied for personal gain.

7:05am
Customer asks me if we have any more Gothic mailbox posts in stock.
I say 'No.'

We had twenty of them, but it was raining and I knew that I would get soaking wet getting the damn things so I just told them to come back tomorrow and we would have received them in a shipment by then. It wasn't in the forecast to rain then.

I lied for my own comfort.

10:21am
Girl that I used to date comes onto the lumber yard with a new boyfriend that looks like a mix between Brad Pitt and Vin Diesel. We start talking and she asks if I'm dating anyone.
I say, 'No.'

I am dating several people, but none of them can match up to the dude she is with so I just lie to keep from looking like I left her for someone that doesn't add up.

I lied for pride.

2:45pm
I've just got home from work and Chris calls me to see what I'm doing. I know that he wants to come by and hang out, but I am tired and don't feel like company.
I say that I'm busy working on Rant Central so he won't come over.

I was playing COD and scanning SuprBay

I lied because I am a prick.

8:24pm
This girl I know texts me and wants to see if I can give her a ride to town.
I say that I was asleep because I have to be up early in the morning.

I had nowhere to be the next day and I was wide awake in my underwear going through programming exercises on my PC.

I lied because I don't like her that much . . . or maybe because I am selfish.

---

Actually that whole thing was a lie, but that is the kind of stuff I lie about. I will lie to calm someone down, make things go smooth or just because I feel more comfortable with a lie than the truth.

I feel no shame. It is a cold world and we have to do what we have to do to survive.

[abu nuwas]

Mark, in all sincerity, that is the best piece of writing I have ever seen!



I also have no shame in this area