RID RAMS...MAY

9/06/2004

.:. Nothing Much to Say... .:.

Nothing Much to Say...

sad...:((

nevertheless here is the speech iv prepared for joey's class...
its 13 minutes long...haay...joey is going to kill me. i cant think of anything shorter...hahaha.

Good afternoon.

Today, I’m going to speak to you about lying as a tool for survival. Well, the lying im referring to is not the lying in “lying down at bed” but rather the lying, w/c according to the Webster, refers to an untrue statement made with an intent to deceive.

But before I move on, I guess most of you would wonder why in the world would lying become a tool for survival considering that lying has several bad connotations. Well, for others, they may already have a clue. The issue of lying having bad connotations or rather lying being morally wrong is an area of intense debate especially in lies such as a compassionate lie or, the ones that we are more familiar with, white lies. For some, such as the Philosopher Kant, Lying has always been morally wrong since lying tends to corrupt the ability of one to make free rational decisions and it robs others of their freedom as well. For others, such as those who consider themselves as utilitarians, believe that the morality of their actions, including lying, can only be good depending on the resulting consequence of the action. Hence in these cases, it may even be immoral not to lie if lying is necessary to maximize benefit or minimize harm.

Well, despite many views on lying, one cannot deny that he has never lied and that lying is avoidable in life. In fact the more one denies he is free of lies the more is he in it. According to a psychologist, human beings lie to about 200 times a day, w/c is roughly one untruth every 5 mins. Thus lying would be hypothesized to play an important role in the survival of the human species and may be significant in life.

To understand the importance of lying, most scientists and actually biologist, as myself, would look at the evolutional development of lying. Many writers and psychologists suggest that lying could be universally associated with traits found in all animals. These traits, such as stealth, mimicry, and deception are important factors that are helpful, or even dispensable for survival and success in many animal species.

According to journals, in the evolutionary development of lying there are four levels of deception. Level one deals with the species permanent appearance, such as insects imitating the appearance of a leaf in order to deceive a predator. Level Two involves coordinated action as in birds that mimic birdcalls of other species in order to attract attention or even to lure prey. Level three already involves primitive intelligence and learning. Like a dog that acts that he is injured, knowing from experience, that the real injury would bring him special attention and care. The highest level would involve planning. A chimpanzee who misleads about the location of food by looking at the wrong way or purposely walking past it. Conscious planning of deception requires “theory of mind”, an understanding of what goes on in another individual’s mind.

These animalistic instincts to deceive to either protect itself from predators or as a trick of attack are not that different from the way humans lie. The only differences is the difficulty of deception, w/c increases in complexity at each level and as organisms become refined in their communication and intelligence. Humans, having the highest form of intelligence, have a instinctual nature of lying – brought to a new level due to the fact that survival is no longer a simple response to his position in the food chain; and so, humans have evolved to a point resulting further into the development and evolution of language for deception and that we may all be natural born liars.

According to a book I’ve read entitled “Antecedents to Lying and teaching the truth”, lying can be observed in young children with different reasons at different ages. At the age of two, the children are not yet able to distinguish between fantasy and reality and would usually lie about their fantasy world. At the age of 6, children begin to develop a more consistent understanding between fantasy and reality and are quieter about it. However, they would also be conscious of their misdeeds, its effects on their parents and the cost and punishments that follow. This would be their first time to construct a lie in order to avoid punishment. Children will also begin telling fibs or exaggerate details in order to gain attention. When the child is 8 years old, the most common reason for lying would be to avoid disappointing their parents, punishment, and doing unpleasant chores. They also learn about polite social lying.

It is only at adolescence when one knows how greatly lying could affect a person’s life, its benefits or possible consequences. Lies are often forced to protect their privacy, to establish independence and to avoid embarrassment. As we grow older, life gets complicated and one will notice that lies can provide short-term help.

There are four types of Lying. These types are (1) lying to protect other’s feelings, (2) Lying to protect one self, (3) Self Deception, and (4) Lies to hurt others.

The first type of lying is the least harmful of all lies. White lies and altruistic lies are clear examples. Psychologists and sociologists believe that these lies are necessary for society to function. Etiquette, politeness, and flattery are now known to be foundations of social interactions and are more often sought after than expressing brutal honest truth, which would hurt or insult a lot.

The second type can take many forms especially since many social problems, such as racism and discrimination, have risen. Lying in order to boost low self esteem and denying one’s uniqueness in order to conform to what other people think is normal and acceptable are just one of the many examples. Studies also show that many people would lie when trying to appear likable and competent as in the case of impressing a crush.

The third kind of lie deals with the unconscious motivations and intentions brought about men’s human nature. Self deception is done in order to satisfy men’s natural greed, self interest, prejudice, desire, insecurity, and other psychological factors affecting, in a negative way, the person’s behavior by justifying that what they did is right.

Lastly, the fourth type of lie is only done by vicious characters; it is done not for the means of survival but rather for uncertain reasons of psychotic behavior and thinking.
Lying can also be constructed for material gain. Someone once told me that “Truth telling can reap most personal benefits but by lying one could gain a little bit more” Many people now a days use lies as means to get what they want – money, clothing, food, etc. Lying can also produce a positive feeling and may be viewed as an accomplishment, w/c feels good, like when kidding a gullible friend. Today, some professions require the ability of becoming a good liar. Politics involve so much lying and false promises in order to gain desired affiliations, it has become a game of deceit and dishonesty even during the politician’s term in office. Lawyers lie too; they twist facts, hide facts, or give the jury just the right amount of info to convert a guilty felon into an innocent baby.
And so the list of lies and its uses continues, as much as my time has already reached its limit. Whether lying is accepted as something wrong or right, lying cannot be denied that it has of some worth or value in the human species. Life is a competition, created by pressures and stresses of human society, and lying has evolved into one of the most powerful and advance function of our cerebral capacity; a power that help us succeed in love, war and commerce. So lying is considered a skill, a tool of the masses to over come injustice, and above all an ability human beings have developed to survive in this world.

*bow*

losing my grip. [8:23 AM]

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