Lie

A lie is an intentionally false statement to a person or group made by another person or group who
knows it is not the whole truth.
[1]
Lies can be told for various reasons and with various amounts of
success.
Bad faith[edit]
Main articles: Bad faith (existentialism) and Bad faith


The percent of good faith editors,vandals, spammers, and sockpuppetsfrom 2004-2011, out of a random sample of
150-200 new editors per year on Wikipedia
As defined by Sartre, "bad faith" is lying to oneself. Specifically, it is failing to acknowledge one's
own ability to act and determine one's possibilities, falling back on the determinations of the various
historical and current totalisations which have produced one as if they relieved one of one's freedom
to do so.
Barefaced lie[edit]
A barefaced (or bald-faced) lie is one that is obviously a lie to those hearing it. The phrase comes
from 17th-century British usage referring to those without facial hair as being seen as acting in an
unconcealed or open way. A variation that has been in use almost as long is bold-faced lie, referring
to a lie told with a straight and confident face (hence "bold-faced"), usually with the corresponding
tone of voice and emphatic body language of one confidently speaking the truth. Bold-faced lie can
also refer to misleading or inaccurate newspaper headlines, but this usage appears to be a more
recent appropriation of the term.
[2]

Big lie[edit]
Main article: Big lie
A lie which attempts to trick the victim into believing something major which will likely be contradicted
by some information the victim already possesses, or by their common sense. When the lie is of
sufficient magnitude it may succeed, due to the victim's reluctance to believe that an untruth on such
a grand scale would indeed be concocted.
Bluffing[edit]
To bluff is to pretend to have a capability or intention one does not actually possess. Bluffing is an
act of deception that is rarely seen as immoral when it takes place in the context of a game, such
as poker, where this kind of deception is consented to in advance by the players. For instance,
a gambler who deceives other players into thinking he has different cards to those he really holds, or
an athlete who hints he will move left and then dodges right is not considered to be lying (also known
as a feint or juke). In these situations, deception is acceptable and is commonly expected as a tactic.
Bullshit[edit]
Main article: Bullshit
Bullshit does not necessarily have to be a complete fabrication. While a lie is related by a speaker
who believes what she says is false, bullshit is offered by a speaker who does not care whether what
she says is true because she is more concerned with giving her hearer some impression. Thus
bullshit may be either true or false, but demonstrates a lack of concern for the truth which is likely to
lead to falsehoods.
[3]

Butler lie[edit]
A term coined by researchers in Cornell University's Social Media Lab that describes small/innate
lies which are usually sent electronically, and are used to terminate conversations or to save face.
For example sending an SMS to someone reading "I have to go, the waiter is here," when you are
not at a restaurant is an example of a butler lie.
[4]

Contextual lie[edit]
One can state part of the truth out of context, knowing that without complete information, it gives a
false impression. Likewise, one can actually state accurate facts, yet deceive with them. To say
"Yeah, that's right, I ate all the white chocolate, by myself," using sarcasm, a form of assertion by
ridiculing the fact(s) implying the liar believes it to be preposterous.
Economical with the truth[edit]
Main article: Economical with the truth
Economy with the truth is popularly used as a euphemism for deceit, whether by volunteering false
information (i.e., lying) or by deliberately holding back relevant facts. More literally, it describes a
careful use of facts so as not to reveal too much information, as in "speaking carefully".
Emergency lie[edit]
An emergency lie is a strategic lie told when the truth may not be told because, for example, harm to
a third party would result. For example, a friend may lie to an angry husband about the whereabouts
of his wife, who he believes has been unfaithful, because said husband might reasonably be
expected to inflict physical injury should he encounter his wife in person.
Alternatively, an emergency lie could denote a (temporary) lie told to a second person because of
the presence of a third.
Exaggeration[edit]
Main article: Exaggeration
An exaggeration (or hyperbole) occurs when the most fundamental aspects of a statement are true,
but only to a certain degree. It is also seen as "stretching the truth" or making something appear
more powerful, meaningful, or real than it actually is. Saying that someone devoured most of
something when they only ate half would be considered an exaggeration.
Fabrication[edit]
A fabrication is a lie told when someone submits a statement as truth, without knowing for certain
whether or not it actually is true.
[citation needed]
Although the statement may be possible or plausible, it is
not based on fact. Rather, it is something made up, or it is a misrepresentation of the truth.
Examples of fabrication: A person giving directions to a tourist when the person doesn't actually
know the directions. Often propaganda is fabrication.
Fib[edit]
A fib is a lie told with no malicious intent and little consequence. Unlike a white lie, fibs rarely include
those lies or omissions that are meant to do good.
Half-truth[edit]
Main article: Half-truth
A half-truth is a deceptive statement that includes some element of truth. The statement might be
partly true, the statement may be totally true but only part of the whole truth, or it may employ some
deceptive element, such as improper punctuation, or double meaning, especially if the intent is to
deceive, evade, blame or misrepresent the truth.
[5]

Haystack answer[edit]
A haystack answer (or statement) is a volume of false or irrelevant information, possibly containing a
true fact (the needle in the "haystack"). Even if the truth is included, it is difficult or impossible to
detect and identify. In this way, the legendary Leprechaun hid his pot of gold,
[6]
even after it had
been found.
Honest lie[edit]
Main article: Honest lie
An honest lie (or confabulation) can be identified by verbal statements or actions that inaccurately
describe history, background, and present situations. There is generally no intent to misinform and
the individual is unaware that their information is false.
Jocose lie[edit]
Jocose (cf. jocular) lies are lies meant in jest, intended to be understood as such by all present
parties. Teasing and irony are examples. A more elaborate instance is seen in
some storytelling traditions, where the storyteller's insistence that the story is the absolute truth,
despite all evidence to the contrary (i.e., tall tale), is considered humorous. There is debate about
whether these are "real" lies, and different philosophers hold different views (see below).
The Crick Crack Club in London arrange a yearly "Grand Lying Contest" with the winner being
awarded the coveted "Hodja Cup" (named for the Mulla Nasreddin: "The truth is something I have
never spoken."). The winner in 2010 was Hugh Lupton. In the USA, the Burlington Liars'
Club awards an annual title to the "World Champion Liar".
Lie-to-children[edit]
Main article: Lie-to-children
A lie-to-children is a lie, often a platitude, which may use euphemism(s), which is told to make an
adult subject acceptable to children. Common examples include "The storkbrought you" (in reference
to childbirth) and the existence of Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny.
Lying by omission[edit]
Also known as a continuing misrepresentation, a lie by omission occurs when an important fact is left
out in order to foster a misconception. Lying by omission includes failures to correct pre-existing
misconceptions. When the seller of a car declares it has been serviced regularly but does not tell
that a fault was reported at the last service, the seller lies by omission. It can be compared
to dissimulation.
Lying in trade[edit]
The seller of a product or service may advertise untrue facts about the product or service in order to
gain sales, especially by competitive advantage. Many countries and states have enacted consumer
protection laws intended to combat such fraud. An example is the Illinois Consumer Fraud and
Deceptive Business Practices Act that holds a seller liable for omission of any material fact that the
buyer relies upon.
Minimisation[edit]
Main article: Minimisation (psychology)
Minimisation is the opposite of exaggeration. It is a type of deception
[7]
involving denial coupled
with rationalization in situations where complete denial is implausible.
Misleading and dissembling[edit]
Main article: Misleading
A misleading statement is one where there is no outright lie, but still retains the purpose of getting
someone to believe in an untruth. "Dissembling" likewise describes the presentation of facts in a way
that is literally true, but intentionally misleading.
Noble lie[edit]
Main article: Noble lie
A noble lie is one that would normally cause discord if uncovered, but offers some benefit to the liar
and assists in an orderly society, therefore, potentially beneficial to others. It is often told to maintain
law, order and safety.
Pathological lie[edit]
Main article: Pathological lying
In psychiatry, pathological lying (also called compulsive lying, pseudologia fantastica and
mythomania) is a behavior of habitual or compulsive lying.
[8][9]
It was first described in the medical
literature in 1891 by Anton Delbrueck.
[9]
Although it is a controversial topic,
[9]
pathological lying has
been defined as "falsification entirely disproportionate to any discernible end in view, may be
extensive and very complicated, and may manifest over a period of years or even a lifetime".
[8]
The
individual may be aware they are lying, or may believe they are telling the truth, being unaware that
they are relating fantasies.
Perjury[edit]
Main article: Perjury
Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or
affirmation in a court of law, or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime,
because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court to remain intact,
witness testimony must be relied on as truthful.
Polite lie[edit]
Main article: Polite lie
A polite lie is a lie that a politeness standard requires, and which is usually known to be untrue by
both parties. Whether such lies are acceptable is heavily dependent on culture. A common polite lie
in international etiquette is to decline invitations because of "scheduling difficulties."
Puffery[edit]
Main article: Puffery
Puffery is an exaggerated claim typically found in advertising and publicity announcements, such as
"the highest quality at the lowest price," or "always votes in the best interest of all the people." Such
statements are unlikely to be true - but cannot be proven false and so do not violate trade laws,
especially as the consumer is expected to be able to tell that it is not the absolute truth.
Speaking with forked tongue[edit]
The phrase "speaking with a forked tongue" means to deliberately say one thing and mean another
or, to be hypocritical, or act in a duplicitous manner. In the longstanding tradition of many Native
American tribes, "speaking with a forked tongue" has meant lying, and a person was no longer
considered worthy of trust, once he had been shown to "speak with a forked tongue". This phrase
was also adopted by Americans around the time of the Revolution, and may be found in abundant
references from the early 19th century often reporting on American officers who sought to
convince the tribal leaders with whom they negotiated that they "spoke with a straight and not with a
forked tongue" (as for example, President Andrew Jackson told the Creek Nation in 1829
[10]
)
According to one 1859 account, the native proverb that the "white man spoke with a forked tongue"
originated as a result of the French tactic of the 1690s, in their war with the Iroquois, of inviting their
enemies to attend a Peace Conference, only to be slaughtered or captured.
[11]

View from nowhere[edit]
Main article: View from nowhere
The view from nowhere refers to journalism and analysis that misinform the audience by creating the
impression that opposing parties to an issue have equal correctness and validity, even when the
truths of their claims are mutually exclusive.
Weasel word[edit]
Main article: Weasel word
A weasel word is an informal term
[12]
for words and phrases aimed at creating an impression that a
specific and/or meaningful statement has been made, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim
has been communicated, enabling the specific meaning to be denied if the statement is challenged.
A more formal term is equivocation.
White lie[edit]
"White lie" redirects here. For other uses, see White lies (disambiguation).
White lies are minor lies which could be considered to be harmless, or even beneficial, in the long
term. White lies are also considered to be used for greater good. A common version of a white lie is
to tell only part of the truth, therefore not be suspected of lying, yet also conceal something else, to
avoid awkward questions. White lies are also often used to shield someone from a hurtful or
emotionally damaging truth, especially when not knowing the truth is completely harmless.
Consequences[edit]
Once a lie has been told, there can be two alternative consequences: it may be discovered or
remain undiscovered.
Under some circumstances, discovery of a lie may discredit other statements by the same speaker
and can lead to social or legal sanctions against the speaker, such as ostracizing or conviction for
perjury. When a lie is discovered, the state of mind and behavior of the lie teller (liar) is no longer
predictable.
The discoverer of a lie may also be convinced or coerced to collaborate with the liar, becoming part
of a conspiracy. They may actively propagate the lie to other parties, actively prevent the lie's
discovery by other parties, or simply omit publicizing the lie (a secondary lie of omission).
Detection[edit]
Main article: Lie detection
Some people may be better "lie detectors" than others
[citation needed]
, better able to distinguish a lie by
facial expression, cadence of speech, certain movements, and other methods. According to David J.
Lieberman, PhD, in Never Be Lied to Again: How to Get the Truth in Five Minutes or Less in Any
Conversation or Situation, these methods can be learned. Some methods of questioning may be
more likely to elicit the truth, for instance: "When was the last time you smoked marijuana?"
(a leading question) is more likely to get a truthful answer than "Do you smoke pot?" Asking the
question most likely to get the information you want is a skill and can be learned. Avoiding vague
questioning will help avoid lies of omission or vagueness.
[citation needed]

The question of whether lies can reliably be detected through nonverbal means is a subject of some
controversy.
Polygraph "lie detector" machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a
number of measures while he/she gives statements or answers questions. Spikes in stress are
purported to indicate lying. The accuracy of this method is widely disputed, and in several well-
known cases it was proven to have been deceived. Nonetheless, it remains in use in many
areas, primarily as a method for eliciting confessions or employment screening. Polygraph
results are not admissible as court evidence and are generally perceived to be pseudoscience.
Various truth drugs have been proposed and used anecdotally, though none are considered
very reliable. The CIA attempted to find a universal "truth serum" in the MK-ULTRA project, but it
was an overall failure.
[citation needed]

A recent study found that lying takes longer than telling the truth, and thus the time to answer a
question may be used as a method of lie detection. However, it has also been shown that
instant-answers can be proof of a prepared lie. The only compromise is to try to surprise the
victim and find a midway answer, not too quick, nor too long.
[13]

Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. Maureen O'Sullivan spent several decades studying people's ability to spot
deception in a study called the Wizards Project. They studied police officers, psychologists, judges,
lawyers, the CIA, FBI and the Secret Service. After studying nearly 20,000 people, they identified
just over 50 people who can spot deception with great accuracy.
[citation needed]

Dr. Freitas-Magalhaes developed the ForensicPsy and the Psy7Faces to read lies by facial
expressions.
Ethics[edit]
Aristotle believed no general rule on lying was possible, because anybody who advocated lying
could never be believed, he said.
[14]
The philosophers St. Augustine, as well as St. Thomas
Aquinas and Immanuel Kant, condemned all lying.
[15]
However, Thomas Aquinas also had an
argument for lying. According to all three, there are no circumstances in which one may ethically lie.
Even if the only way to protect oneself is to lie, it is never ethically permissible to lie even in the face
of murder, torture, or any other hardship. Each of these philosophers gave several arguments
against lying, all compatible with each other. Among the more important arguments are:
1. Lying is a perversion of the natural faculty of speech, the natural end of which is to
communicate the thoughts of the speaker.
2. When one lies, one undermines trust in society.
Meanwhile, Utilitarian philosophers have supported lies which achieve good outcomeswhite
lies.
[15]
In his 2008 book How to Make Good Decisions and Be Right All the Time,Iain
King suggested a credible rule on lying was possible, and defined it as: "Deceive only if you can
change behaviour in a way worth more than the trust you would lose, were the deception discovered
(whether the deception actually is exposed or not)."
[16]

In Human, All Too Human, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche suggested that those who refrain from
lying may do so only because of the difficulty involved in maintaining the lie. This is consistent with
his general philosophy that divides (or ranks) people according to strength and ability; thus, some
people tell the truth only out of weakness.
In other species[edit]
The capacity to lie has also been claimed to be possessed by non-humans in language studies
with great apes. In one instance, gorilla Koko, when asked who tore a sink from the wall, pointed to
one of her handlers and then laughed.
[17]
Deceptive body language, such as feints that mislead as to
the intended direction of attack or flight, is observed in many species including wolves. A mother bird
deceives when it pretends to have a broken wing to divert the attention of a perceived predator
including unwitting humansfrom the eggs in its nest to itself, most notably the killdeer.
[18]

In culture[edit]


Close-up of the bronze statue depicting a walking Pinocchio, named Walking to Bors by Jim Dine
Cultural references[edit]
Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio was a wooden puppet often led into trouble by his propensity to lie. His
nose grew with every lie; hence, long noses have become a caricature of liars.
A famous anecdote by Parson Weems claims that George Washington once cut a cherry tree
over when he was a small child. His father asked him who cut the cherry tree and Washington
confessed his crime with the words: "I'm sorry, father, I cannot tell a lie." The anecdote has been
proven to be a completely fictional story.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a fable attributed to Aesop about a boy who continually lies a wolf is
coming. When a wolf does appear nobody believes him anymore.
The Sky Is Falling, similar to The Boy Who Cried Wolf, is the story of Chicken Little, an alarmist
little chicken who claims that the sky is falling. This differs from The Boy Who Cried Wolf in that
Chicken Little's fabrication is the result of a misinterpretation of the facts which he believes to be
true.
To Tell the Truth was the originator of a genre of game shows with 3 contestants claiming to be
a person only one of them is.
The clich "All is fair in love and war"
[19][20]
finds justification for lies used to gain advantage in these
situations. Sun Tzu declared that "All warfare is based on deception."Machiavelli advised in The
Prince "never to attempt to win by force what can be won by deception," and Thomas Hobbes wrote
in Leviathan: "In war, force and fraud are the two cardinal virtues."
Fiction[edit]
In the film Big Fat Liar, the story producer Marty Wolf (a notorious and proud liar himself) steals
from student Jason Shepard, tells of a character whose lies become out of control to the point
where each lie he tells causes him to grow in size.
In the film Liar Liar, the lawyer Fletcher Reede (Jim Carrey) cannot lie for 24 hours, due to a
wish of his son that magically came true.
In the 1985 Max Headroom, the title character comments that one can always tell when a
politician lies because "their lips move." The joke has been widely repeated and rephrased.
Larry-Boy! And the Fib from Outer Space! was a story of a crime Fighting Super-Hero with
Super-Suction ears, having to stop an alien calling himself "Fib" from destroying the town of
Bumblyburg due to the lies which caused Fib to grow. Telling The Truth is the moral to this story.
Lie to Me, a TV series based on behavior analysts who read lies through facial expressions and
body language. The protagonists, Dr. Cal Lightman and Dr. Gillian Foster are based on the
above-mentioned Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. Maureen O'Sullivan.
The Invention of Lying is a 2009 movie depicting the fictitious invention of the first lie,
starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, and Tina Fey.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen tell the story about an 18th-century baron who tells
outrageous, unbelievable stories, which he claims are all true.
Kamen Rider Den-O has Urataros who claims that "one lie is better than ten thousand truths."
Literature[edit]
Sir Walter Scott's famous couplet "Oh, what a tangled web we weave / When first we practise to
deceive!" describes the often difficult procedure of covering up a lie so that it is not detected in the
future.
Paradoxes[edit]
Within any scenario where only "yes" or "no" answers are accepted, a person who we know is
consistently lying would "paradoxically" be a source of truth if "yes" is sometimes the correct answer.
There are many such paradoxes, the most famous being known as the liar paradox, commonly
expressed as "This sentence is a lie," or "This sentence is false." The so-called Epimenides
paradox ("All Cretans are liars," as stated by Epimenides the Cretan) is a forerunner of this, though
its status as a paradox is disputed. A class of related logic puzzles are known as knights and
knaves, in which the goal is to determine who, in a group of people, is lying and who is telling the
truth.
Psychology[edit]
The capacity to lie is noted early and nearly universally in human development. Social
psychology and developmental psychology are concerned with the theory of mind, which people
employ to simulate another's reaction to their story and determine if a lie will be believable. The most
commonly cited milestone, what is known as Machiavellian intelligence, is at the age of about four
and a half years, when children begin to be able to lie convincingly. Before this, they seem simply
unable to comprehend why others do not see the same view of events that they doand seem to
assume that there is only one point of view, which is their own.
[citation needed]

Young children learn from experience that stating an untruth can avoid punishment for misdeeds,
before they develop the theory of mind necessary to understand why it works. In this stage of
development, children will sometimes tell outrageous and unbelievable lies, because they lack the
conceptual framework to judge whether a statement is believable, or even to understand the concept
of believability.
[citation needed]

When children first learn how lying works, they lack the moral understanding of when to refrain from
doing it. This takes years of watching people tell lies, and the results of these lies, to develop a
proper understanding. Propensity to lie varies greatly between children, some doing so habitually
and others being habitually honest. Habits in this regard are likely to change in early adulthood.
[citation
needed]

Those with Parkinson's disease show difficulties in deceiving others, difficulties that link
to prefrontal hypometabolism. This suggests a link between the capacity for dishonesty and integrity
of prefrontal functioning.
[21]
Pseudologia fantastica is a term applied by psychiatrists to the behavior
of habitual or compulsive lying. Mythomania is the condition where there is an excessive or
abnormal propensity for lying and exaggerating.
[22]
A recent study found that lying takes longer than
telling the truth.
[13]
Or, as Chief Joseph succinctly put it, "It does not require many words to speak the
truth."
[23]
Some biologists have argued that lying is an unavoidable feature of human behavior.
[24]

Religious perspectives[edit]
It is alleged
[25]
that some belief systems may find lying to be justified. Leo Tolstoy is cited
[26]
as
describing religious institutions as "the product of deception [and] lies for a good purpose".
Augustine's taxonomy[edit]
Augustine of Hippo wrote two books about lying: On Lying (De Mendacio) and Against Lying (Contra
Mendacio).
[27][28]
He describes each book in his later work, Retractions. Based on the location of De
Mendacio in Retractions, it appears to have been written about 395 AD. The first work, On Lying,
begins: "Magna qustio est de Mendacio" ("There is a great question about Lying"). From his text, it
can be derived that St. Augustine divided lies into eight categories, listed in order of descending
severity:
Lies in religious teaching
Lies that harm others and help no one
Lies that harm others and help someone
Lies told for the pleasure of lying
Lies told to "please others in smooth discourse"
Lies that harm no one and that help someone materially
Lies that harm no one and that help someone spiritually
Lies that harm no one and that protect someone from "bodily defilement"
Despite distinguishing between lies according to their external severity, Augustine maintains in both
treatises that all lies, defined precisely as the external communication of what one does not hold to
be internally true, are categorically sinful and therefore ethically impermissible.
[29]

Augustine wrote that lies told in jest, or by someone who believes or opines the lie to be true are not,
in fact, lies.
[30]

In the Bible[edit]
The Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible both contain statements that God cannot lie
and that lying is immoral (Num. 23:19,
[31]
Hab. 2:3,
[32]
Heb. 6:1318).
[33]
Nevertheless, there are
examples of God deliberately causing enemies to become disorientated and confused, in order to
provide victory (2 Thess. 2:11;
[34][35]
1 Kings 22:23;
[36]
Ezek. 14:9);
[37]

"And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie" (2
Thess. 2:11 NKJV)
[38]

Various passages of the Bible feature exchanges that assert lying is immoral and wrong (Prov. 6:16
19; Ps. 5:6), (Lev. 19:11; Prov. 14:5; Prov. 30:6; Zeph. 3:13), (Isa. 28:15;Dan. 11:27), most
famously, in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not bear false witness" (Ex. 20:217; Deut. 5:6
21); Ex. 23:1; Matt. 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20 a specific reference to perjury.
Other passages feature descriptive (not prescriptive) exchanges where lying was committed in
extreme circumstances involving life and death. However, most Christian philosophers would argue
that lying is never acceptable, but that even those who are righteous in God's eyes sin sometimes.
Old Testament accounts of lying include:
[39]

The midwives lied about their inability to kill the Israelite children. (Ex. 1:15-21).
Rahab lied to the king of Jericho about hiding the Hebrew spies (Josh. 2:45) and was not killed
with those who were disobedient because of her faith (Heb. 11:31).
Abraham instructed his wife, Sarah, to mislead the Egyptians and say that she is his sister
(Gen. 12:10). Abraham's story was strictly true Sarah was his half sister but intentionally
misleading because it was designed to lead the Egyptians to believe that Sarah was not
Abraham's wife for Abraham feared that they would kill him in order to take her, for she was very
beautiful.
[40]

In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands
Christians "Do not lie to one another" (Col. 3:9; cf. Lev. 19:11).
In the Day of Judgement, unrepentant liars will be punished in the lake of fire. (Rev. 21:8;
21:27).
In Paganism[edit]
In Gestattr, one of the sections within the Eddaic poem Hvaml, Odin states that it is advisable,
when dealing with "a false foe who lies," to tell lies oneself.
[41]

In Zoroastrianism[edit]
Zoroaster teaches that there are two powers in the universe; Asha, which is truth, order and that
which is real, and Druj, which is "the Lie". Later on the Lie became personified asAngra Mainyu, a
figure similar to the Christian Devil, who was portrayed as the eternal opponent of Ahura
Mazda (God).