You ….. Liar….

Saturday, 15th April 2007
4:13 PM, Bangalore
You ….. Liar….

Many people tell lies in some situation or the other. The question is why do we lie? Or WHY DO I LIE? Is it a necessity or a habit? Many may argue, it becomes a necessity sometimes. For example, while bargaining at a shop, you may tend to tell a lie to the shopkeeper that the same thing is available at a lesser price in other shops. The logic is, since he is telling a lie to me by exaggerating the price; I have to do the same as a counter attack. Ok, accepted, but what about other situations? I think, most of the time we lie in order to gain something like respect, admiration, praise or some other favor which we do not deserve. A guy in the college boasting about his special talents to his classmates (mostly girls) or an interviewee bluffing about his abilities to the panel, there is a clear visible benefit expected.

We lie because we are not comfortable about telling what we actually possess. By boasting, the guy may get a GF or two and the candidate may get the job, but they actually do not have the talents they boasted. So there is a good chance of them being caught at a later stage. This ruins the relationships as the person no more remains trust worthy. Unearthed lies are the main cause of broken marriages (or relationships).

But there is a third category also. I have seen many people lying for no gain at all. These noble souls are slaves of habit. Whatever the situation may be, they will lie or exaggerate the fact.

Personally, I have never seen a person who lies a lot and still command a great respect from his/her peers. And I know a few people who do not lie (or do not appear to). All of them command a lot of respect from people. So I find lies and respect as inversely proportional to each other. It can’t be a coincidence; your own experiences will give a boost to this statement.