I have this painful habit of telling the truth. I just don't seem to be able to/willing to lie. To the point of sometimes being a brutal asshole...I'm trying to get better. Anyway do you think it's okay to tell little white lies? Last night my mum was recording something on TV and I accidentally turned it off at the power point when I went to bed. She'll be mildly vexed but I can't even be bothered dealing with it when I can just convince her, she was the one who turned the TV off... At the end of the day it'll probably makes us both happier? She won't be annoyed at me, and she won't be annoyed for long...win-win?
No, its a terrible thing to do! But everyone does it. I don't say that in an attempt to justify or remove any guilt I may have, because I have no shame, its just the reasonable reality. I actually don't lie very often, but when I do I am far to good to be considered a healthy individual.
I'd say it's not a huge problem, but it's still a problem. Simply because any lie can lead to doubling down, which gets to be a problem. Exhibit A: One time my brother threw a book at a wall and made a dent in it. He told me not to tell on him, so I didn't, and when my parents asked I didn't give him away, but he said it was me. And so my parents were convinced that I was the culprit. And grounded me. For 6 months. Because I had lied about causing damage that I didn't cause but became accused of.
I said that yes, it is wrong, but I don't think that this is universally the case. I can conceive of it being necessary for your own protection (even if all you're protecting is your sanity). That being said, I do think we would be better off as a society if telling white lies were less common. They can result in a communications break down that can utterly ruin relationships.
I voted no, but I might have been lying. The poll options are the inverse of what you'd expect from the title by the way.
i usually prefer to dodge,deflect or change subject matters instead of telling white lies. I have mixed feelings about telling white lies nevertheless
Yeah I noticed that, but it's appropriate for the actual poll question Thanks all. I don't really know if it's wrong or right, I just tend not to do it, but I don't think it's necessarily wrong.
I think little white lies are fine, yeah. I don't know, if my friend had a haircut I really disliked, there's no way in hell I'm telling them I think it looks disgusting when asked. A lot of the time they just make it easier and save unnecessary hurt feelings.
In my opinion, there are just some things people don't need to know. There are even some things people are better off not knowing. That's why I tell the occasional white lie.
What if it was lie and someone survives or tell the truth and they die? 'Morals' are undefined in isolation. You can only assess something's moral value when you compare it to an alternative action, and there are definitely some situations where it is more moral to lie than to tell the truth.
I'm a bit of a compulsive liar. If I believed lying was morally wrong, my hatred for myself would be stupendously high. I mean, there's some stuff you shouldn't lie about, but in the grand scheme of things, we do things much worse than lying to others.
I can't answer. My answer would be "it depends". I mean, if the lie is "no, I didn't steal a cookie," its so ridiculous I wouldn't even bother saying if it was wrong or right. It has no measurable negative effect on anyone, and its just used to avoid conflict. Whatever. Sometimes, lying can be helpful. You have to consider the effects on other people when determining if its wrong or right. I wouldn't say that lying is wrong when its not put into a context. An example from my own life: I was once left trying to explain why I wasn't able to give my exam certificates to a prospective employer. I told her I'd never received them, the school was still in possession of them. Was I morally wrong to do that?
