Of lies and liars

A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement. Lying is immoral and it goes against the fundamentals of leading religions. The Buddha in the five precepts asked the layman not to tell lies: Musavada Veramani Sikkapadam Samadiyami . One of the Ten Commandments in Christianity says, "Thou shalt not bear false witness." In the New Testament Jesus Christ refers to the Devil as the father of lies.

Apart from religious leaders, most philosophers have condemned lying in no uncertain terms. Although the celebrated Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that no general rule on lying was possible, St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and German philosopher Immanuel Kant did not hesitate to call lying an immoral act. Although all major religions and most philosophers frown upon lying, men and women have been lying from time immemorial. In fact, lying has been justified in certain situations. For instance, it is often said, "All is fair in love and war." Lovers and warriors resort to lying to gain advantage from certain situations. The Chinese sage Sun Tzu boldly said, "All warfare is based on deception." Thomas Hobbes in his masterpiece Leviathan said, "In war, force and fraud are the two cardinal virtues." Machiavelli backed him to the hilt by saying, "Never attempt to win by force what can be won by deception."

Conflict of interest

So, there seems to be a conflict of interest when it comes to lying. As a general rule, we condemn lying. However, we have found exceptional situations in which lying is justified. Most rules have exceptions. Does it mean that lying too can have exceptions? Can we go against the spirit of Buddhism or Christianity by telling lies to others simply to gain some advantage? These are difficult questions to answer because some people have made inroads to moral codes enunciated by major religions.

A polygraph test

Lying has been so rampant in society that we have classified lies into many categories. Very often we come across "bare-faced" or "bold-faced" lies in the media. According to some newspaper advertisements, there are people who can cure any disease including cancer. They have never gone to a medical college or studied the subject in depth. But they claim they have found an ancient palmyrah leaf that contained a secret formula.

In this digital age there are so many 'butter lies' doing the rounds. Sometimes a person can send an SMS to his spouse or boss by saying that he is having breakfast in a restaurant while he is engaged in some other task.

Literature in any language is full of lies but we call them 'fiction'. Hyperbole or exaggeration is a fundamental aspect of literature and without it no fiction can sustain itself. We enjoy reading novels, short stories and poetry knowing well that they are full of 'lies'. However, nobody will take objection to such lies as they are essential ingredients of fiction.

Fabrications

Apart from literature, sometimes people fabricate stories to gain advantage in certain situations. A fabrication is a lie told when somebody submits a statement as truth without knowing for sure whether or not it actually is true. During election times, certain candidates resort to fabrication by spreading certain stories which are not based on facts.

In offices and workplaces people tell lies as a form of teasing. Such 'jocose lies' are not meant to injure the reputation of anybody or gain an undue advantage over somebody else. Without such lies life in workplaces would be really dull. In a similar vein we tell lies to children when they ask embarrassing questions. When a child asks, "From where did I come, Mom?" mother would say 'The stork brought you." Such lies are quite innocent and they do not go against morality as such.

Lying in a court of law is known as perjury. It is a crime punishable with imprisonment. However, it is a matter of interest to ascertain whether the police and witnesses tell the truth and nothing but the truth. In fact, lawyers resort to cross examination to ascertain whether witnesses are telling the truth.

Detection

There can be a difference between what a person actually says and what he really feels. Much research has been done to ascertain whether it is possible to detect deceit by monitoring non-verbal clues. However, researchers have found that it is not easy to detect liars by studying their non-verbal signals. Lying is no longer associated with slow talking, long pauses before speaking, excessive shifting of posture, reduced smiling or lack of eye contact.

Modern psychologists, however, have found that some non-verbal signals are associated with lying. For instance, excessive hesitation and stammering, speaking with a higher pitch and giving relatively short answers can be indicative of lying. In addition, if you look at a person who is lying, you will note excessive blinking and dilation of his pupils. What is more, liars nervously touch themselves more than normal people do. Sometimes, a liar will sport a friendly smile while nervously shuffling his feet. He will also lack spontaneity that goes with the verbal message. It is common for liars to take more time than is necessary to encode and send deceptive signals than authentic ones.

In another attempt to detect lying, the polygraph was invented. It is a device that records fluctuations in physiological arousal as a person answers questions. Popularly called a 'lie detector' it is really an emotion detector. The device monitors heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate and perspiration. With all such hopes, the lie detector has proved to be inaccurate.

One problem associated with lie detection is that people who are telling the truth may experience emotional arousal when they respond to incriminating questions. Sometimes, people do not rely on the polygraph tests because innocent people too have been found guilty. What is more, some people can tell lies without experiencing physiological arousal.

Telling lies will remain part of the human psyche for many more centuries. While lying in certain situations seems to be justifiable, it has been condemned as immoral and irreligious. The via media seems to be that we should refrain from lying as a habit except when we crack jokes and write fiction. This means, lies have their uses and misuses.