“By a lie, a man...annihilates his dignity as a man.” ~ Immanuel Kant
By this, I definitely did not mean that Ladies are freely allowed to Lie and they’ll lose no dignity for it. On a serious note, I genuinely believe that lying is increasingly popular in today’s day and age. This, to my mind, is worrisome as this is not the direction that human race should be moving towards.
A little inaccuracy sometimes saves a lot of explanations. -- Saki
Does the above quote explain the human behaviour in relation to lying? Quite possible. We can find various explanations as to why humans lie. Ultimately, the reason which gives the best answer is that “it makes life easier”. Whether it is avoiding confrontation with your wife in saying that she has put on weight or a casual sms to your Boss saying that the work has been taken care of, lies are used as the instant solution for any kind of problem that exists for you. But this blog is not about human behaviour. This is about my behaviour. To verbalise why I go wild when I hear a lie. And by the time you finish reading, you can recommend me a good shrink.
What we forget that lying could be “instant” but its not “the” solution of the problem. And this is what makes me hate lies so much. You lie and can get away but the problem remains there and you don’t even acknowledge it. And when your wife suddenly weighs 10kg more, or when the work you committed to your Boss does not happen, you don’t even realize that the lie didn’t help you at all.
In most cases, sooner or later, the lie gets caught. As I mentioned earlier, the increasing popularity of lies has resulted in the acceptance of the liars. And that is why people of my breed are fast becoming extinct, just like dinosaurs. Most of the times, we “digest” a lie unless it’s a serious one. Lies lead to breaking of trust in both personal and professional life.
In a professional context once the trust is broken, it instantly results in delay of decisions and action points. You need to make sure now that this particular individual, who lied earlier, is not lying this time. You do all the cross checks before ensuring any action is taken. This means productivity loss as well as duplication leading to higher cost.
A liar is not believed even though he tell the truth. -- Cicero
Do I need more reasons for hating liars? Well, there are more…
One of the other reasons is that I believe that liars are cowards. They dont have the courage to face the truth. Face the reality. They are running away (not to exercise, though). Avoiding work because they dont know what to do. Not wanting to ask anyone because their ego will be hurt. Am I calling a liar an egoist? You may find this ironical but can’t ignore it either. By running away, you are also refusing to learn. You are refusing your own growth.
The next reason why I hate liars so much is that lying is highly contagious. As they say, “When a lie has travelled half the world, truth is just putting on its shoes”. Because of the pleasure of ease involved in lying, it spreads much faster than the truth does. One person lies and others want to jump and copy as the first person got away so easily. This further worsens the matter. Now instead of two liars, you have two hundred liars in the organization, only because the first two got away.
I also think that a lot of times people lie only because they are habituated. “I’ve sent an email”, when you have started to draft it and “I have reached office”, when you are half way through are instances of habits of lying – your current status does not give you a disadvantage, but why not adopt the easiest way is what’s at the back of your mind. This is the worst form of procrastination.
All these reasons, and much more, makes me hate, really hate, liars. I believe that the liars, organization, should be hanged, like in the tribal era, so it doesn’t ruin the organizational culture. It’s also disheartening to say, that I cannot recommend you to completely stop lying today, as we, the human race, are not “truth ready”! And finally, I dont recommend half-truth as an option, because I have stopped believing in “Ashwasthama, mara gaya, nar ya kunjaro” (Ashwasthama is dead, man or elephant). Still, I have to end this with some solution. If I dont I will be called a preacher and not a practitioner. So the final words would be:
Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. -- Oliver Goldsmith
PS: You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter
Nice article ...
ReplyDeleteOne instance where we teach our kids to lie is when we ask them to say "Dad is not at home" on the phone, even when we are right there.
This may seem petty and also right to the kid as it is coming from the parent. But then it gets internalized and ingrained in his/her character.
Sir, this is really complex....
ReplyDeleteI also feel that the easiest way to go or do things is being true, as you dont have to remember what you said to whom.( This is very tough in these times as we are more communicated and connected)
But the environment is not "truth-ready" is also a fact. Today its more of a greyscale world, than a black and white one.