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TALL TALES AND BALD FACED LIES<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM<\/strong>\u00a0(retd<\/strong>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Mark Twain in his famous satirical essay \u2018On Telling Lies\u2019,\u00a0 states that if we were to tell the absolute, unfiltered truth for a single day, the human race would be entirely wiped out by mutual destruction. There is scientific consensus that human beings are hard wired to lie and, the onset of lying in the early years is a significant milestone in cognitive growth. \u00a0A study by the social psychologist Robert Feldman\u00a0 has unraveled that,\u00a0 \u201860 percent of people lie at least once during a 10 minute conversation, telling an average of 2-3 lies.\u2019<\/p>\n
The Bible describes Satan (devil) as the \u2018father of lies\u2019\u2026. famous also for telling the \u2018first lie\u2019, when disguised as a serpent he deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden, \u2018You will not surely die,\u2019 <\/em>directly contradicting God’s warning about eating the forbidden fruit. \u00a0The same humble fruit, whose infamous reputation was finally redeemed in Wales in the 1860s, with the famous health jingle \u2026. \u2018an \u2018apple\u2019 a day keeps the doctor away!\u2019 Theological narratives apart, today, on the earthly plane, there appears to be stiff competition to unseat Bernie Madoff (the \u2018ponzi king\u2019), as the \u2018ultimate liar\u2019!!<\/p>\n
\u2018A mistake is an accident, cheating and lying are not mistakes \u2013they are intentional choices\u2019\u2026a defense mechanism and shortcut to have one\u2019s own way. The scope and spectrum of lies is boundless\u2026 white\/black\/red lies, bold faced lies, lies of omission, commission, minimization, exaggeration, fabrication, deception, and \u00a0\u00a0compulsive or pathological lies…and then there are the liars, occasional, defensive, manipulative, smooth, compulsive, occupational and in addition the \u00a0\u2018algebra liars\u2019, who rationalize that two good lies make a positive!! Furthermore, based on the specific goal and target profiling, \u00a0the fibber may \u2018lie like a rug or lie through his teeth\u2019, \u2018lead you down the garden path or to a merry dance\u2019, \u2018pull a fast one\u2019, \u2018feed you a line\u2019, \u2018blow smoke\u2019, \u00a0\u2018take you for a ride or to the cleaners\u2019, \u00a0\u2018pull wool over your eyes\u2019,\u00a0 \u2018spit in your eyes\u2019, \u2018feed you a lie\u2019, \u2018spin a yarn\u2019 or \u2018speak with a forked tongue!\u2019<\/p>\n
Telling lies requires a high level of skill. Dr. Gregory House (played by Hugh Laurie) in the hit medical drama series HOUSE, M.D, nails it as an intricate, highly demanding art form that, \u2018requires the memory of a chess grandmaster, the improvisation of an unhinged jazz musician and an absolutely shameless dedication to the craft.\u2019<\/p>\n
Clinically, occasional lying can be a basic survival coping tactic, however habitual and remorseless lying can be a sign of deeper personality disorders. Chronic untruthfulness is known\u00a0 to cause physiological changes, hormonal and neurological strain and other long term health issues including\u00a0 cardiovascular damage, immune system weakness and disrupted sleep patterns. \u2018Honesty doesn\u2019t always pay, but dishonesty always costs\u2019!<\/p>\n
Author Robert Greene suggests that\u00a0\u00a0 telling the truth at all times is a \u2018recipe for social suicide.\u2019\u00a0 Some lies are fully baked into our daily routines and accepted as \u2018normal\u2019. These may manifest as polite social grease like \u2018I am on my way\u2019\/\u2018I will just come\u2019\/I will call you right back\u2019\/\u2018I\u2019ll try my best to come\u2019;\u00a0 \u00a0the familiar minimization lie, \u2018I had only one drink\u2019; face saving lies, \u2018My phone was dead\u2019\/\u2018I got late due to traffic\u2019\/\u2018I couldn\u2019t come due to a bad tummy\u2019; the universal lie of procrastination, \u2018I\u2019ll start working out\/dieting from tomorrow\u2018; and the mother of all lies, \u2018I am not a liar\u2019!!!<\/p>\n
Detecting a lie is incredibly challenging; mercifully, neither of us is \u2018Pinocchio\u2019, whose nose magically increased whenever he lied\u2026nor are a liar\u2019s pants ever set on fire\u2026.(the untruth of the old \u00a0school taunt, \u2018liar liar pants on fire\u2019)! \u00a0\u00a0Body language and mannerisms \u00a0can be a giveaway. However,\u00a0 on social media deception has largely become an engineered and automated methodology of public manipulation\u2026a precision guided weapon which thrives on\u00a0 the \u2018buttons\u2019\u00a0 and biases of the masses\u2026.and it can be quick!\u00a0 Winston Churchill aptly stated that, \u2018a lie gets half way around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.\u2019 Unfortunately, most people either don\u2019t have the mental bandwidth or want to bear the cognitive load (mental energy) to find the truth, despite the fact that diverse fact checking tools are easily accessible. \u00a0Not surprisingly, many end up as \u2018sheeples\u2019 alias the \u2018flock.\u2019 Apparently, social media is the ultimate accelerator of gullibility!<\/p>\n
BTW, the \u2018World\u2019s Biggest Liar\u2019 is an annual competition for telling lies, held in Cumbria, England. And, not surprisingly, politicians and lawyers are barred from participation\u2026..because, they are \u2018judged to be too skilled at telling porkies\u2019 (British slang for lie). That is rather unfortunate, for otherwise the world would have had an undisputed winner. (Choosing to withhold the name of the individual may well count as a lie of omission<\/em>) … unless one wants to DIY\u2026, \u2018Melody khao khud jaan jao\u2019 (eat a \u2018melody\u2019 and find out for yourself)!<\/p>\n
A Requiem to The Naked Truth<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n
(19th<\/sup> Century Legend)<\/strong><\/p>\n
The Lie said to the Truth \u2013<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\u2018Let<\/strong>\u2019s take a bath together<\/strong>, the water is very nice<\/strong>.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n
The Truth<\/em><\/strong>, still suspicious<\/strong>, tested the water and found out<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
it really was nice<\/em><\/strong>. So they got naked and bathed<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n
But<\/em><\/strong>, suddenly<\/strong>, the Lie leapt out of the water and fled<\/strong>, wearing the clothes of the Truth<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n
The Truth<\/em><\/strong>, furious<\/strong>, climbed out of the well to get her clothes back.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
But the world<\/em><\/strong>, upon seeing the naked Truth<\/strong>, looked away<\/strong>, with anger and contempt<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Poor Truth returned to the well and disappeared forever<\/em><\/strong>, hiding her shame<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Since then<\/em><\/strong>, the lie runs around the world<\/strong>, dressed in Truth<\/strong>, and society is very happy<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n
Because the world has no desire to know the naked Truth<\/em><\/strong>.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n
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(Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM<\/strong>** (retd<\/strong>) is a historical researcher and commentator on societal issues<\/strong>.\u00a0 He is apolitical<\/strong>. Views expressed are personal<\/strong>. He does not claim to be <\/strong>\u2018Mamad<\/strong>\u2019, the legendary wise man<\/strong>, who is fabled to have never told a lie<\/strong>!)<\/p>\n
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TALL TALES AND BALD FACED LIES Major General Rajiv Edwards, VSM\u00a0(retd) Mark Twain in his famous satirical essay \u2018On Telling Lies\u2019,\u00a0 states that if we were to tell the absolute, unfiltered truth for a single day, the human race would be entirely wiped out by mutual destruction. There is scientific consensus that human beings are …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51841,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51838\/revisions\/51841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ferozepuronline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}