We're all Liars

The following article was originally published by myself on Word Press in July of 2016

Are you a liar? If you stopped 10 people on the street and asked them if they are liars 9 out of 10 would say no. Meaning you met 9 out of 10 people who just lied to you and the one who didn't is simply an honest liar. All of us tell white lies on an almost daily basis without even thinking about and without much reason. However, there is always a reason. What allows us to justify these white lies is that we view them as inconsequential in that they won't negatively affect anyone.

I theorize the main reason behind these prevalent white lies is to appear more competent and more like others than we actually are. Why are you late? Answer: There was a car accident that forced all the traffic into one lane. Truth: You just woke up late. How come you're back so early from the mall? Answer: They were out of the pants I wanted to buy. Truth: You forgot your wallet, with your driver's license inside, at home. Did you see that call the stupid ref made on Sedin last night? Answer: Ya, what is he blind? Truth: You haven't watched a hockey game in over a month.

These lies are so frequent and instant it makes me wonder if they are programmed into our biology. I guess it makes sense that they are since in tribal times only those who were competent and reliable were of value. It would be horrible to believe of yourself of having little value and it would be even worse if other people in your community percieved you of having little value. Therefore we lie. And we lie a fucking lot.

The fact we're so comfortable with lying as much as we do indicates we see it as inconsequential. So what is the barometer of measuring what is inconsequential or not? Even though we don't expressly think of the answer one can surmise we measure the effect of each lie. We measure is this going to cost the person time, energy, or money? If not then fuck it.

So how do you spot liar? In other words how do you know someone is fucking with you. Knowing is the first step in making this greasy wad of jiz regret he or she ever fucked with you. They should know better, right? Right? 2 things I've done many times and have seen others do when lying is hesitate and avoid eye contact. That right there is the double fucking whammy. There's hesitation because the person is split second deciding whether to lie or tell the truth. Eye contact is avoided because we make eye contact when we mean what we say and if the person finds out later we lied we don't want them to feel that we lied to them in a serious way. Avoiding eye contact makes the statment less serious.

In conclusion we lie because sometimes the truth hurts. Or it just makes us look stupid. Either way the world is a better place for it.

H. Kandola
Surrey BC