The Final Page...

Honestly, I wish I had picked a different topic to write about.

Not that it's bland or dry or anything like that, it's actually quite fascinating. But its making me cynical, judgmental, slightly pessimistic. It has become the main topic of my thoughts during these past couple of weeks. I'll be listening to someone tell a story, and I can hardly get engaged in what they're saying because all I'm worried about is whether they are telling the truth. I've always been the kind of person to look for the best, the good in people, but i have recently found myself doing the exact opposite. It's killing me inside, but I can't stop thinking about it. Curse this Blog!!! 

It hasn't been all that bad. I've actually enjoyed the writing aspect of it. I find myself easily being able to find a groove when I start writing, and it's truly entertaining to be able to write about something with no required structure or guidelines.

As cliche as this sounds, writing about lying has actually helped me become a more honest person. I've caught myself consciously eliminating the little white lies that we as humans tend to tell naturally in our everyday conversations. Most people would think that a little lie could never do any real damage, and maybe that's true, but if you tell yourself that, then lying will continue to become a bigger part of your life, which will then begin to cause the real problems. 

The problem with our society is that, unfortunately, a story often has to partly, if not completely, a lie to be worth hearing at all. Think about it. People exaggerate their stories everyday because they know that nobody will give a lick about it if they don't. I fear that lying has become so commonplace that lying is in fact the truth. No comprendo? If everything everyone told you was a lie, or at least there was no possible way for you to know what the truth was, the wouldn't everything you hear be the truth? Although that's a bit extreme, its happening in small doses all around us, to us. The idea that you something you have been told as the truth could turn out to be a lie at any moment is terrifying, unnerving, and cruel.

Have a great day. Merry Christmas

Remember that time when I did that thing...?

This was a rather awkward interview between my mother and I...

You see, back in the summer between Freshman and Sophomore year I told the biggest lie of my young, naive life. Well actually it was a series of lies. One lie led to another, and another, it was a snowball effect of lies.

I had to relive this dreadful time of my life with my mom (I decided to leave my Dad out of the conversation to save myself from his conceited and excruciatingly irritating comments) ... And here is how it went down.

"So Mom, do you remember when you took my entire summer away in between my Freshman and Sophomore year?"

               *Laughing* "Yes, Why?"

"Well I want to ask you a few questions about it... How did you know I was lying?"

                "If you're still trying to figure out who ratted you out, I already told you I'm not telling you until                         your 30."

"(Insert explicit), fine. Okay then, what was your immediate reaction when you found out I was lying?"

                "The first thought that went through my head was whether or not I was going to tell your father or                     not. I new it was going to get real ugly real fast if I did, but I knew I couldn't keep it from him. I                     almost felt bad for you.
"Almost?"

                 "You deserved whatever was coming your way."

"You honestly believe that?"
                 
                 "Well it worked didn't it? We haven't had any problems with you since that happened."

"How did that scenario change your view of me?"

                  "I don't know think it's fair to say it changed my view of you. the violation of trust was definitely                       the part that was hardest to deal with. For me, it was like we had to start completely from                             scratch, and I was constantly questioning myself on whether I  was making the right decisions                         as a parent. That was the most irritating part about the whole situation. I was more pissed off                         at the fact that you put me in that position."

"... Did I ever apologize?"

                  "No."

"Sorry"

                  "Too little, too late."

"Figured. Okay last question. How much difference would it have made If I had just come clean?"

                   "Hmmmmm... Probably not very much as far as punishment goes. Telling the truth wouldn't                             have made what you did any better. But it definitely would have helped me forgive you quicker,                     and I'm sure your father would have respected you a whole lot more if you told him the truth,                         instead of him finding out through me.

The lesson I learned from this conversation. I need to get better at covering my tracks when I lie.

No not really (sort of), but obviously there is a big risk that you take when you try and hide a big lie. And honestly, there's usually a very slim chance that your secret will never get leaked.

It's much easier for me to give this advice than it is to actually take it for myself, but 9 times out of 10, things will turn out better for you're honest with others. Although people forget it most of he time, we're humans, we make mistakes. Being able to own your mistakes, accept them, and admit them to others will get you a hell of a lot further in life than trying to lie your way through or playing the blame game to try and cover your tracks.

Try it. Your self respect will sky rocket. Try it.






“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” 
― George Washington                   

A little white lie never killed anybody.....

For today's research, I looked at some of the biggest and most disastrous lies in the history of man-kind. The ramifications of these lies are unmatched. Some of these examples that I am going to share with your are blatant, slap you in the face type of lies, while some of the others fall more along the lines of deceit. A very fine line separates the two of those, so fine that I am considering them the same for the sake of my blog. Here we go...

1. This is one of those that falls more along the lines of deceit, and it just so happens to fit right in with one of our areas of study in English this semester. The Trojan Horse. How the Trojans did not see that one coming is beyond me. After ten years of a brutal war, the Greeks trick the Trojans into thinking that they was thrown in the towel, and give them a giant wooden horse as a piece offering, that's what you do when you surrender, right? No. Greeks hiding in the giant horse come out while the city is asleep, open the gates, and the Greeks continue to kill the entire population of Troy. Foreseeable? I Would think so, but devious nonetheless, and this lie resulted in the devastation of a city and the death of a countless number of men, women, and children.

2.  "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never. These allegations are false. And I need to go back to work for the American people. Thank you."

Sure Bill...

The famous Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair is perhaps one of the biggest scandals the presidency has encountered. As noted in the quote posted above, Clinton clearly states that he did not have any type of affair with Lewinsky. Well this turned out to exactly what he said it wasn't, a lie. Because of all this, he was tried on obstruction of justice and perjury, and was lucky he was not impeached. His reputation however, was tarnished forever.

3. The reason I said that the previous example was one of the biggest scandals in the presidency is because the Watergate scandal is the obvious #1...
Some important people close to Nixon had given orders to have crooks break into the democratic national committee and wiretap the building, you know, James Bond type stuff. After the goons got caught, Nixon denied that he had any part of the scheme, but after some recorded conversations that took place in the White House, the supreme court was able to garner enough evidence to convict Nixon. This ruined Nixon's political career, and he decided to "go out on his own terms' (not really). He became the first and only president to resign from the president.

There are many examples of monumental lies like these that have shaped history in one way or another. One thing that I find interesting to think about is that these probably aren't some of the biggest lies, because the biggest and best lies have not been uncovered yet....




"A lie is just a great story that someone ruined with the truth." - Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother

You lying to me? ......Nope......

Earlier this summer I stumbled upon and episode of the fascinating TV show Brain Games dealing entirely with the human tendency to lie. The episode was absolutely fascinating, it focused on many aspect of the human nature to lie, one of which is that it is in fact human nature to lie, quite often, actually. The writers of the show spent a lot of time focusing on the idea that humans are natural liars, and it felt they were making an argument that we should not be blamed for lying. That idea, I do not agree with, but I see where they are coming from.

 This episode had me thinking a lot about humans and their tendencies to lie compulsively. Think about it, how many lies to you hear in a day, in a conversation? I bet you that its more than you think. I'm not going to share any specific examples quite yet, but I know for a fact that I lie quite often, but probably not any more than the average person.

The other day I was teaching a tennis group at where I work, and I was watching this kid who was the littlest piece of...... that I had ever seen. I've never seen anything like it before, blatantly calling shots that were in out and lying about the score to get ahead. I ended up making him run, a lot, and I'm pretty sure he hates me know but I think that's okay if it helps him to become a better person? Knowing 8 year olds it probably made no difference whatsoever, but that's not the point. I noticed that his actions created a domino effect among the group. Kids started lying in the same way that he was to get ahead. I found myself having to correct scores all the time and calling lines, and after being assigned this project in English, I found the main focus of my project: How much do the lies of one person effect the people around them?

Infinitely.

According to a little research I have done, the average human tells 2-3 lies in one ten minute conversation.
I've started to think of a lie as a domino in a never ending fluctuating line of more and more dominoes. One lie leads to another, which leads to another, and another, and another, and so on. Unfortunately the majority of these lies cause harm in the lives of others, sometimes very little problems, but then again a lie could also ruin someones life.

I don't want you to think that this project will have an entirely negative tone to it, because I also plan to look at the other perspective of a lie. Some of the lies people tell actually do have good intentions, like protecting someones feelings from a hurtful truth. The problem with these lies is that they usually don't turn out they way you hoped and the truth comes out anyways, so is lying really ever okay?

This topic is going to lead to an endless number of more and more questions, but that's part of what fascinates me about it so much, because lies are LITERALLY everywhere, and my sources for research has no limitations. Sports, TV, movies, school, friends, enemies, politics, myself, the list goes on......

So whats real?