The other day, I came across a bumper sticker saying that "Lying is a Universal Truth" and I found it quite humorous, and because of it's serious contradiction, I just had to write about it. It's funny how it's so true- that everyone in this universe lies. Even if we try not to, it just happens. Sometimes the lie is not even a big one and we still end up feeling as though we have to say it. Even though I lie as well, this bumper sticker made me realize how much a sin can take over the universe's opinion, and go as far as making it a truth. It may not be the only truth in this world, but after thinking about it some more I see that even if it's not the only truth out there, the fact that lying is one of them is big enough for me. Lying and telling the truth are at different ends of the spectrum which is what makes it so contradicting. Even the nicest, most honest people have told a lie at least one time in their lives. I couldn't understand why this bumper sticker stuck with me and then I realized that it's because I never took the time to realize my own faults. I realize that lying is really hard not to do. I mean we should definitely try to not lie, and although this task might seem impossible, we can at least try to make it less of a habit. In Mark Twain's, "On the Decay of the Art of Lying," he says "An habitual truth-teller is simply an impossible creature; he does not exist; he never has existed. Of course there are people who think they never lie, but it is not so,--and this ignorance is one of the very things that shame our so-called civilization. Everybody lies--every day; every hour; awake; asleep; in his dreams; in his joy; in his mourning; if he keeps his tongue still, his hands, his foes, his eyes, his attitude, will convey deception--and purposely." I totally agree with this but I also think that the universe can do a lot better than this. Do we really want to make lying a truth? The task might be impossible but there is always hope. I know I probably sound really optimistic, but I honestly do believe that we should try to make this "universal truth" less of a truth. How? Maybe we should start with ourselves and see how long we can go without lying. It would be a good test for our strengths and weaknesses as an individual. But is that even possible? Is my previous blog right- is it impossible to be better? I'm not sure of the answer but I am pretty sure that lying should no longer be labeled as a universal truth, and the only way we can make that possible is if we falsify it. Contradiction? I think not!
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Lying is so common to us that we dont even always realize when we are lying. People think that if its a "white lie" then its not really a lie. It only becomes a lie when its something big right? Not true. I think the reason why its become so easy to accept lying as the norm is because as a society we want to take the easy way out. Its much easier to lie to your parents and tell them you're going to go study with a friend instead of getting into an argument about wanting to go out with a boy right? Also, it will look alot better if we lie to our teachers and tell them that our computer crashed and that is the reason why we couldnt do the assignment when in reality we hadnt even remembered we had one in the first place. Our society has the mindset that if it "makes you happy then it cant be that bad" in other words if something is benefitting you and not necessarily hurting someone else directly then there is nothing wrong with lying. However this is obviously not true because once a person starts lying about little things it becomes easier and easier to lie about even bigger things. In my opinion lying is the root of so many problems in our world and if all people simply tried to be more honest with one another and even themselves then our world would greatly improve.
ReplyDeleteHere's a bit of mental meandering:
ReplyDeleteAnother problem is that if lying is a universal truth, is saying that just another lie? It seems that it's not, given that some statements that are made are not lies; and yet, we do all lie in some way or another at some point. This means that lying is a universal truth. But if it's a universal truth, we're back to square one. Is saying that it's a universal truth a lie, given that we cannot trust anyone about not lying, even the one who stated that lying is a universal truth?