Ask Lemmy

Never. I never, ever lie. About anything. For any reason. And I certainly wouldn't lie on the Internet, in an anonymous forum. I especially wouldn't lie about lying.

I don't remember the last time I lied.

I do a lot of changing the subject or give obtuse answers to avoid lying. If something isn't great, I will focus on the good parts. Like if some food had a bad texture but the taste was good I will mention only the taste instead of just saying it was good or that I enjoyed it, which would be lies.

Whenever someone asks how I'm doing.

2 small children need constant lies. How else do noses get stolen?

More than "never", less than "all the time". I never counted it, so I don't actually know.

I consider lying morally negative (bad). But it isn't such a big negative that can't be somehow justified, in some situations - usually because telling the truth would cause a larger negative.

Only on Lemmy comments.

As a person with terrible memory I find that telling the truth requires less work than lying.

If there's no work involved in keeping the lie then sure, I'll lie.

I think that most days, I don't lie at all. I actively try to avoid lying; I have a long history of mental health issues, so I used to lie a lot about how I was doing, to avoid worrying people, but that turned out to be counter productive. If someone asks me how I'm doing, a "eh, getting by :/ " or similar can be surprisingly informative. I've been getting better at gesturing at my general not coping in a way that's not going to give any more information that is appropriate or necessary. I've found that people actually worry less this way.

What is truth.

Intentionally lie? - never.

I wouldn't call anyone in an anonymous place a valid primary source. So maybe I view all of this as a lie?

I think the very concept of truth should be questioned. Human memory is not truthful or accurate in nature. The very act of remembering has been shown to alter one's recollection.

Science is about consensus, collaboration, and time. There are few binary truths and everything is subject to new evidence and revision based on observation.

I view truth like all oversimplifications. It is useful in a fake idealized world, within a lie - if you will, but absolutes are a fallacy in the real world.

When I was 19 I decided that I was going to be honest about everything. I don't know why - I guess it just seemed like the "right" thing to do? I'd literally just say anything that came to mind, unfiltered. I lost several good friends and hurt my family members because of it. After that I realized that you just have to lie about some things, or at least keep silent about how you really feel.

I consciously try not to, but still have those stupid random moments where I realize I just pretended to have already understood or known something. It doesn't happen often, but it creeps in here and there. Why do we do that? Is it just some human insecurity thing?

Frivolous stuff and/or pleasantries it tends to happen. Never for anything important or that matters to a reasonable degree. I do tend to choose my words more carefully if I want to answer but don't want to fully speak on something.

How do you know anyone is not lying about the amount of times they lie?

I lie down every night

As often as I can.

I am trying to survive some tough situations where a bit of deception is required. Sometimes it's just easier to dodge the truth and not cause a screaming match because the details don't really mean anything but will cause a problem because things are so difficult and explosive. I don't go around telling lies, but if it'll help me get through the day in my relationship I'll definitely skew things.

Commence meeting

Colleague: How are you?

Me: Pretty good ….

I never lie. (Lie)

I have self-reflected on this a few times. They "say" (I say that in quotes because it's one of those "human nature" generalizations) that the average person lies approximately a hundred times a day but doesn't notice. I was confident I don't fit the mold but took a closer look at that just to make sure. If we're talking about things that are strictly lies, none under average circumstances (on the average day, I don't even speak thirty sentences), but many people have had a thing or two to say about me and semantic liberties (could use the golden compass right about now). My lack of a strong social life (not by choice, I'm not good at formulating my end of a chat) or any wealthy, famous, or powerful position probably saves me from lying anywhere near the amount of times the average person lies.

I try not to but some social situations are so fucking stupid it's like I don't have a choice.

I really don't lie. Unless it's for safety or a white lie not to hurt someone's feelings, I don't feel the need to stoop to lying.

I accept my faults and I'll admit wrongdoing before I lie. I'm not concerned with what other people think of me, so I speak my truth even if it will drive others away from me. If that happens, they aren't the kind of people I want to associate with anyway.

I value honesty, authenticity, and empathy and hold myself strictly to the standards I've set in my mind and personal philosophy.

I don't lie or say anything on the internet that I wouldn't say in real life. I can't personally comprehend the point or drive to lie on the internet. I'd rather focus effort on self-actualization rather than make-believe.

If you count obviously untrue statements for humor purposes, quite a lot actually. If you don't, never really, though I admit to the occasional creative diplomatic truth.

If we are counting work speech:

All Day. Every Day.

To other people, sometimes. Not enough to be labled a liar. To myself, all the time.

Does "I wish you a nice day" count?

Never…. (That’s a lie)

I almost never do but sometimes people need to hear something and the lie is for their benefit rather than mine . Like if someone asks me if they are going to be okay i can't just go full honest and say no your shit fucked so i say yes .

1 billion times

It is omitting a truth a lie?

Mostly when playing games that involve lying. I won't lie to my wife and I avoid lying to my children, friends, and coworkers. I sometimes lie to patrons of the restaurant where I work, to provide a simple-but-false answer instead of a complex-but-true one, but never about ingredients or allergies. A good example is if they ask me how I like the shrimp I'll say I'm allergic but they're very popular. I think shrimp are disgusting and don't eat them, but it's true that they are very popular.

Probably a few times a day, depending on what I'm doing.

I work in a small office, and answer the phones. Most of the time the call needs to be transferred on. Standard operating procedure if someone can't take the call is to say they're "unavailable, can I get them to call you back?" and, if pressed, "on another call at the moment". This is usually untrue - we don't get many calls, so 99% of the time it'll either mean they're in the bathroom, having lunch or just don't want to talk to an overly needy client who keeps calling at the moment.

I'll often also lie about my position if a client questions why I can't handle their call. It's easier to say I'm just the receptionist or something isn't my department, than explain why this either needs to be handled by someone else or would be far cleaner that way.

Oh, and I lie about why I'm putting people on hold all the time. I'm often not bringing up your file or whatever - I did that while we were talking.

As a purveyor of the wonderful art of sarcasm, a decent amount. Otherwise, very infrequently.

It varies mostly on the subject and situation. Outside of with a few people and a few situations I won’t hesitate to lie if it serves my needs more than the truth and I think I can get away with it.