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I LOVE this question! Haven't seen the movie yet, but will put it on my list. I've thought quite a bit about this, and have concluded that only the very self confident (and very intelligent) would be able to live, happily in such a world. We all have negative thoughts and judgements, and those thoughts and judgements will hurt the feelings of those we love. We would have to develop a certain "tolerance" level for negative thoughts directed towards us, so that we are only "alarmed" when that level exceeds a certain limit. . . We would have to recognize when thoughts or judgments are purely subjective, and take the attitude that "there is no accounting for some people's taste". . . and we would have to have a highly developed sense of humor about the judgements we make about each other. . . actually, this sounds like a "fun" game. . . anyone wanna play?
We evolved to lie for a reason. That reason is so that we don't get killed by bigger people, abandoned by those we need to survive, and the ability to live in close quaters with other humans for extended periods of time.
Society would fall apart if people quit lying to one another.
We evolved to lie for a reason. That reason is so that we don't get killed by bigger people, abandoned by those we need to survive, and the ability to live in close quaters with other humans for extended periods of time.
Society would fall apart if people quit lying to one another.
and in a world where lying did not happen, those who did not learn to moderate their negative thoughts towards others would become extinct. Isn't evolution a wonderful thing?
Telling a lie is stating something that is not true. I sense that the responders here believe it to be more than that.
Not making a statement is not telling a lie. It is simply not externalizing an opinion. That is not lying. I may look at someone talking on their cell phone while driving and think to myself 'what a jackass.' I am not lying if I don't pull the guy over and tell him how I feel. If someone asks me how they look and I say that's for them to decide, I haven't told a lie.
Personally, I would love to know that everyone is telling the truth when they have something to say to me. Telling the truth doesn't mean being an obnoxious loudmouth. It just means when you have something to offer someone, it is the truth. If you don't have anything to offer them, being truthful or lying doesn't apply because you haven't made a statement. To have truth or lie, there has to be a statement.
Telling a lie is stating something that is not true. I sense that the responders here believe it to be more than that.
Not making a statement is not telling a lie. It is simply not externalizing an opinion. That is not lying. I may look at someone talking on their cell phone while driving and think to myself 'what a jackass.' I am not lying if I don't pull the guy over and tell him how I feel. If someone asks me how they look and I say that's for them to decide, I haven't told a lie.
Personally, I would love to know that everyone is telling the truth when they have something to say to me. Telling the truth doesn't mean being an obnoxious loudmouth. It just means when you have something to offer someone, it is the truth. If you don't have anything to offer them, being truthful or lying doesn't apply because you haven't made a statement. To have truth or lie, there has to be a statement.
You make an interesting point but my experience has been that people communicate quite well with non-verbal cues. I have had entire, extended "conversations" with a dear, well know friend, that did not include one word being uttered!
You make an interesting point but my experience has been that people communicate quite well with non-verbal cues. I have had entire, extended "conversations" with a dear, well know friend, that did not include one word being uttered!
Sorry... off topic: but you just reminded me of Stephen King's 'The Shining' movie (first one with Jack Nickelson). There was a line in it to the effect that the old cook could have conversations with his mother without ever opening their mouths.
Now, on topic:
I think you are right to an extent--especially with close friends. But I think this is less the case in a general setting (although there is always a bit of it).
Lying is a huge gamut of degrees and ends, so it would be a very quiet world. The only way to not offend some one in a delicate situation (like your sisters new baby looking like the offspring of a wilder beast and a baboon) would be to not say anything.
Lying is a huge gamut of degrees and ends, so it would be a very quiet world. The only way to not offend some one in a delicate situation (like your sisters new baby looking like the offspring of a wilder beast and a baboon) would be to not say anything.
and that would be tough when they ask a direct question.
Telling a lie is stating something that is not true. I sense that the responders here believe it to be more than that.
Not making a statement is not telling a lie. It is simply not externalizing an opinion. That is not lying. I may look at someone talking on their cell phone while driving and think to myself 'what a jackass.' I am not lying if I don't pull the guy over and tell him how I feel. If someone asks me how they look and I say that's for them to decide, I haven't told a lie.
Personally, I would love to know that everyone is telling the truth when they have something to say to me. Telling the truth doesn't mean being an obnoxious loudmouth. It just means when you have something to offer someone, it is the truth. If you don't have anything to offer them, being truthful or lying doesn't apply because you haven't made a statement. To have truth or lie, there has to be a statement.
Sort of. But there is something about intention. Let's say there's something else: deceit. Maybe intentionally giving on a part of a truth that you know with an intention of allowing the audience to not have all the facts or ideas, can be called deceit.
I don't think by lying people meant everyone going around constantly being rude unneccesarily and telling people they're fat, dumb, and ugly. But coercing people via half-truths, is deceit.
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