lies

It might be unwise to lie to another, but it is assuredly foolish to lie to oneself.

We all lie. Lies come in many forms and degrees. Saint Augustine of Hippo outlined a taxonomy of lies. We even know that animals lie. Koko the gorilla was caught blaming the cat for her transgression. I've known dogs who deceive.

The proliferation of mass media seems to have made lies more common than truth. Do you believe what is broadcast on TV? What network(s) do you watch and trust? We might want to beware that the viewers of some stations have less factual content in their minds than viewers of other broadcasters. Not everything is merely opinion. In Lies We Trust is an eye-opener and kinda scary. I dare you to watch it.

The worst lies may be the lies we tell to ourselves, self delusion. But I wonder....does one need to be delusional to sell a war of choice under false pretenses or to modify scientific reports before they reach congress? Perhaps I should consult with Dr. Sanity. I like what he says about social subjectivism because I do think there is an objective reality.

"Probably the first prerequisite for accusing someone of engaging in self-delusion is that one must accept that there is an objective reality, external and independent to one's self; one's beliefs or one's emotions/feelings. Without such a fundamental epistomological foundation, it is completely meaningless to accuse anyone of self-delusion, althought postmodern intellectuals do it all the time."

"As they wallow in their preferred form of social subjectivism, it is perfectly "reasonable" (if that is the word) from their perspective to impute delusion to others--even if every time they do so, they effectively demonstrate the invalidity of their own philosophy. That is why it is so amusing to observe their appropriation of the term "reality-based community" -- when they don't believe in any reality except for their own emotions!"

Ken Wilber called it aperspectival madness (the definition is near the bottom of the page) and despite his keen insight, I think that he gets caught in the trap all too often.

So, what is the Truth and the truth about lies? Every one has to answer that for themselves but thankfully, we can all stand on the shoulders of giants, and have science and rationality to aid us on our search for empirical truth.