Musings: Lies

So there was a time back in the day, when I decided not to lie. Of course, I had to soon revise that statement to, I will not tell lies, which is, in itself an ocean of duplicity. A walk down memory lane shows me what I was thinking at the time. Read on.

What are lies, but an enhancement or retraction of our truth moulded so solely for meeting our purposes? Dictionaries around the world define a lie as a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. All our lives, elders have told us that lying is a bad thing, that it must be avoided at all circumstances, and as we grew up, we did learn to the contrary.

To satisfy man's conscience, we have divided lies into various categories. Augustine of Hippo divided lies into eight categories:

1. Lies in religious teaching.
2. Lies that harm others and help no one.
3. Lies that harm others and help someone.
4. Lies told for the pleasure of lying.
5. Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse."
6. Lies that harm no one and that help someone.
7. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's life.
8. Lies that harm no one and that save someone's "purity."

Most philosophers have been against lying, in any and every form. One must be murdered, suffer torture, or endure any other hardship, rather than lie, even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie, according to them.

In today's world lying is not just an action of intent, but a necessity. Everyone needs to lie, somewhere or the other, in some situation or the other. This is because, the basic premise behind any and every lie is the assumption that the listener would take it for the truth. And today all those morals are forgotten. All of us lie, although some of us still mask it, deny it, most of us give them wondrous names and meanings to satisfy our ever bleeding conscience: white lies, noble lie, puffery and what not.

This article comes forward because questions were raised about my habit of 'not telling lies'. And this is my explanation to them. I don't tell lies. No, it is not the same as not lying, as what I do, in the broad scope of things, would pass for lying. I don't tell lies, in the sense that if I speak anything, the words will not be untrue. However nothing I say can be trusted, as I present the facts in a way that is literally true, but intentionally misleading. This process is called disassembling in scientific terms. Another of my indulgences is where there is no outright lie, but I still retain the purpose of getting someone to believe in an untruth.

Of course this is a method that I used to use to convince myself that I did not lie. But the truth is, I just don't TELL lies, what I say may be complete untruth, if construed in the wrong way. So why do I announce it here so dim-wittingly, defeating the purpose of doing something like this??? Simple, to feed my conscience, that seems so keen to guilt me to death every time I don't tell a lie! So, Mr Conscience, please leave me alone!