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Is telling lies part of nature, like eating and breathing?

I don't know if we can (probably not). But I've often wondered how much simpler and sweeter life would be, how much stronger we all would be, if honesty prevailed.

True. But then there would be no yin and no yang. Life would be so perfect that change would become inevitable, and lies would be abound. I wonder if there are moments on Earth when everything is true for a split second, like; is there ever a time when someone isn't taking a crap? Is there ever a moment when someone on Earth isn't talking?

But lies are also used to save one from hurting anothers feelings. Or in cases like the People hiding the Jews in their houses during WWII.

Originally posted by debbiejo
But lies are also used to save one from hurting anothers feelings. Or in cases like the People hiding the Jews in their houses during WWII.

Yes, therefore lies neither be right nor wrong, or both.

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
Is telling lies part of nature, like eating and breathing?


Can you stop telling lies?

Originally posted by Soleran
Can you stop telling lies?

I don't know. Can you?

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
I don't know. Can you?


Just answer the question!



LoL what do you consider a lie? An omision of facts, an attempt to intentionally misrepresent something, what does it mean to you?

Originally posted by Soleran
Just answer the question!



LoL what do you consider a lie? An omision of facts, an attempt to intentionally misrepresent something, what does it mean to you?

I did answer the question. What does it mean to you?

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
I did answer the question. What does it mean to you?


Since this is your thread i would like to hand the honors over to you to answer the question you first posted................

If I knew the answer, I wouldn't have asked!

Originally posted by Soleran
Can you stop telling lies?
Sure ting, mon. whistling1


Debbiejo> Good point.

The intent and time determines the "value" of a lie to me.

As long as there is self-interest there will be lies.

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
Is telling lies part of nature, like eating and breathing?

To answer your question: is telling lies part of nature, I would argue that it may or may not be part of human nature. To further elaborate, I'd note that human beings are self-interested, and if telling a lie meant preserving a strong interest, humans will do so. The only (rare) exception would be someone to whom the interest of honesty trascends everything else or at least, everything he or she's got on the line. So the act itself isn't really similar to eating and breathing (Since those are basic needs), but it most certainly stems from the natural human self interest mode.

To answer the topic question: Can we live without lies? the answer is yes. Probably not for very long (Since telling the truth can get you in all sorts of trouble), but it is possible. Prudent? Depends on how you look at it. The only reason to not lie would be to further some personal code of honor, or to perhaps take responsibility for your own actions and thoughts. Otherwise, not lying would be almost wasteful. Everybody lies.

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
Is telling lies part of nature, like eating and breathing?

I find it impossible for a person not to lie during their lifetime. Whoever claims they never lie....are lying.

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
Is telling lies part of nature, like eating and breathing? have you heard of Psychology?

A lie is anything short of absolute truth. Truth does not vary, it is the always so. It never leads one to anything but itself. A lie is misleading and twisted, it leads to speculation.
Can one live without lies? Yes, by realizing he is part of the always so....as long as he tells the truth.
Shonti

It is human nature to do that which is forbidden or scolded upon (which is why people curse so much in society). So if lying becomes morally correct and telling the truth becomes something to punish little children for, then people might start telling the truth a bit more.

NO.............It can be to the betterment to humanity.

yes

havent you seen the movie liarliar.
we need to lie about good or bad things.
if we lived without lies everyone would be an @$$.

Of course we can.
Honesty is more then just speaking your mind...after all, are minds are often distorted and wrong.

judgments and assumptions do not = the truth.
Consider yourself when you find your mind judging someone else, because it probably has nothing to do with them.

Can we live without lies?

No. Lies are the foundation of human society.

Originally posted by xmarksthespot
No. Lies are the foundation of human society.
What do you have to back that up?

Originally posted by Alliance
What do you have to back that up? That without lies human society would break down.

That wasnt back up.

Remove lies from society and then we'll see...
herbshock

Thats not a practical experiment. Apparently you are unable to back up your claim with concrete examples. Your point is entirely unbased rhetoric.

Duh. The entire philosophy forum is unbased rhetoric.

reason to continue such a trend?

It pleases me. And my life is nothing but the endless pursuit of pleasure being the godless heathen that I am.

Withought lies there would be only truth, withought truth there would only be lies. Lies and truth are like light and dark. You cant have one withought the other. A lie would keep you from hurting someone, and the truth would hurt them, and yet when neither are told it crushes the person not saying either.

First, the world needs a drastic change...when people stop from feeling compromised.

Well its possible to an extent in some religious groups or individuals, but in reference to the '7 sins', most lies have a foundation rooting from here. So in short, it's practically inevitable for lies to be present, as theres always going to be greed,pride,envy,etc present in society.

noup

Lies... it' s hard enough to communicate when you' re telling the truth.

Originally posted by Storm
Lies... it' s hard enough to communicate when you' re telling the truth.

That's why we have lies, they make stuff easier

Difficult to predict all the variables when you keep tossing more variables in.

I'd rather someone tell me a pleasant lie, like "I think you're gorgeous" than for someone to tell me a cruel truth "I think your ugly"

Can we live without lies?

YES *nose begins to grow*

The fact that we have the ability to lie, I think pretty much dictates the inevitability of the omni-existance of lies.

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
The fact that we have the ability to lie, I think pretty much dictates the inevitability of the omni-existance of lies.

"the inevitability of the omni-existance of lies" It's way to early for that level of bullshit.

Originally posted by Shakyamunison
"the inevitability of the omni-existance of lies" It's way to early for that level of bullshit.



It's never too early for that level of bullshit



Let me rephrase it then:




As long as we have the freedom to lie, then there's no way we won't. There is no way we will live our entire life without holding some kind of lie, a lie of ANY sort ofr form..... I beleive that 100%

Originally posted by Lord Urizen
It's never too early for that level of bullshit...

I played too late last night; I had too many beers; I got up too early this morning; and I'm at work with people talking to me way to much.

Originally posted by Tired Hiker
Is telling lies part of nature, like eating and breathing?

No, telling lies is NOT part of our nature. It is socially constructed, like a lot of things today we often say ae ''in our nature''.

Hmmm I dont think that it possible for someone NOT to lie.

But then again there are those who are sooooooo absorbed in their own lies that it becomes their truth. Sadly I've had to deal with this on several occasions.

Yes, we could live without lies, but it would be a very sad and boring existence.

When you guys say "lies" do you just mean the type of lies we tell other people to avoid trouble ?


There are other types of lies as well, self-delusions for example. Many people lie to themselves all the time to cope with negativity.

Originally posted by fini
Hmmm I dont think that it possible for someone NOT to lie.


That make your statement hard to accept as true

lol

It depends on what kind of lie. Slander can be a lie which is defaming a person as apposed to protecting someone or ones self with a lie which doesn't hurt anyone. During WWII many people including Christians lied about hiding Jews in their homes, yet Christians are not suppose to lie, and in doing so found a truth that supersedes the lie.

i dont think we can. thats like saying can we live without evil? no we cant. lies = evil truth = good.

Originally posted by PiruBlood
i dont think we can. thats like saying can we live without evil? no we cant. lies = evil truth = good.

Why can't we live without evil?

Because if we didn't have evil then we wouldn't know what good was. And maybe if there was only good, with our natures the way it is, we would still find evil in it.

I think it's possible to live without lies, it would make live much harder and far more complicated but it is possible I think.

This question just leads to more questions... would you rather live in a harsh truth, such as knowing when you're going to die, or live in blissful ignorance? Is there anything that isn't worth knowing, because if there are things that we don't want to know... then we are forced to live with lies.

You know why people lie? 'Cause most people can be deceived way too easily. Most people don't think. I read dozens of books on how we're manipulated by everyone like politicians, TV, our own family, and how we can manipulate others, and I've gotta tell you, most people are idiots. Manipulation works like magic. The only thing people should do to avoid being deceived is start thinking.

We can and life would be so much better that way.

Interesting question. I think its really necessary to define what a lie is in order to answer it. From a biblical perspective, I would define a lie as anything that acts against God's word.

So when I think of lying from a biblical sense, I usually think of a concious action which one does in order to always benefit oneself instead of God, many times with the intent to harm God and others. This type of behavior I could definitely live without.

As long as selfishness and intent to harm are not present though, I don't think that writing a good fictional story, telling a joke(as long as one can take the same type of joking back), or any related entertaining hijinks are really working against God's word, so I don't believe that they qualify as a lie in a biblical sense.

If we completely took away the stories, the jokes, and laughs away from life - then I'd take a gander at saying life would be pretty depressing, and not really worth living.

Originally posted by Thundar
Interesting question. I think its really necessary to define what a lie is in order to answer it. From a biblical perspective, I would define a lie as anything that acts against God's word.

So when I think of lying from a biblical sense, I usually think of a concious action which one does in order to always benefit oneself instead of God, many times with the intent to harm God and others. This type of behavior I could definitely live without.

As long as selfishness and intent to harm are not present though, I don't think that writing a good fictional story, telling a joke(as long as one can take the same type of joking back), or any related entertaining hijinks are really working against God's word, so I don't believe that they qualify as a lie in a biblical sense.

If we completely took away the stories, the jokes, and laughs away from life - then I'd take a gander at saying life would be pretty depressing, and not really worth living.

And what if you take God out of the equation?

No one is perfect and everyone lies.It is part of life!Is it a good or bad thing no but it is something that not everyone can help or can but that is when the free well comes in.
Because we have free well we can lie and reather God wants us to well that is up to him.So my answear is no we can't live without lieing.jm

Originally posted by Fishy
And what if you take God out of the equation?

I can live without lies - can't live without God though.

Yea we could live without lies but without God no!Take God out of the picture and this world would be worst then it is now.Jm

Originally posted by ADarksideJedi
Yea we could live without lies but without God no!Take God out of the picture and this world would be worst then it is now.Jm

How?