A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World: Why are We Good at Lying? (Essay Sample)

Why are we good at lying?
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." —Mark Twain
The art of lying is perhaps the oldest one that we humans have perfected. Something that preceded the Paleolithic cave paintings in Lascaux, France, and even the first set of tools created by the Homo Sapiens. A lie is an art just like a Caravaggio (The Crucifixion of St. Peter) or a Da Vinci (Mona Lisa's smile) which is designed and delivered to deceive. But lying goes way much deeper than just being an art. Believe it or not, it is an actual science and philosophical thought. Do you want to know why? Here's the truth about lies.
Rene Magritte | The son of man | "what we see is not always what it is..."
"Everything we see hides another thing. We always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.” —Rene Magritte, The son of Man
     Can you remember some of the lies that turned your world upside-down? What about lies that formed a part of your reality? What about lies that devastated you (e.g. someone lied to you that he loves you — ouch)? Regardless of the reason for spouting such things, there's one thing for sure, most of us believe that lies are evil. They form a part of your consciousness, your personality, and your reality through false pretenses. And as your little circle of reality fell apart, so do you. But don't falter, there's a good thing about it. Lies are imperative for our survival, as well as for the establishment and maintenance of societies. We lie to others as well as to ourselves to create a seeming truth that is livable. To prevent insanity from taking over us. Mainly, this is because it enables us to comprehend things which are beyond our mental capacity as of the moment. In the societal level, lies are essential for social cohesion. To prevent yourself from shooting your neighbor when you found out that he's been sleeping with your wife, since you wouldn't even know about it in the first place. In simple terms, a lie’s function can be simply understood with the Latin term Ordo ab Chao - Order in Chaos.
     Okay. I know. Most of us would not be satisfied with this and think that lies are just bags full of crap. But before we jump to conclusions let us first define what a lie is, for knowledge's sake.
FigurePaleolithic cave painting in Altamira, Spain | Cuevas de Altamira | 35,600 Y.o.
In its most basic sense, a lie is simply defined as "making a false statement with the intention to deceive". Take note that the "intention" is not only oriented towards others but also towards yourself. Still, this definition is too narrow that we have to enumerate some basic types of it.
According to Dawson McAllister — an American author and radio host — there are eight (8) types of lies:
1 White lies- are the most tactful and least dangerous among types of lies.
2 Broken promises- are failures to keep one's spoken commitment or promise
3 Lie of Fabrication- telling others something for sure is true
4 Bold-faced lie- saying something that everyone knows is a lie
5 Lying in exaggeration- enhancing the truth by adding lies to it
6 Lies of deception- trying to create an impression that causes other to be misled, by not telling all the facts, or creating a false impression
7 Plagiarism- is both stealing and lying. It consists of copying someone's work and claiming it as your own
8 compulsive lying- is often caused by low-self esteem and a need for attention; in fact, the compulsive liar finds it all but impossible to stop.
Every day we lie to everyone, including ourselves. Most of these lies would be in the form of white lies, lies of deception, and lies in exaggeration. But whether we do it in good faith or merely to deceive, we shouldn't blame ourselves for this, since the evolutionary process hardwired our brains to do this. To put it simply, it's one of the things that made us humans, and what keeps our humanity intact.
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The science of lying
One of the most valuable things that we inherited from our ancestors is the art of lying. We, humans, are good at doing it that we could even trick our brains into doing and believing the impossible. I'm not trying to force a sense of paranoia to everyone, because the thing is, we are just as good in detecting lies as well as telling them. And the credit goes to... drumroll, please... EVOLUTION.
(Evolution: "Geez, thanks")
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     Next time that you have a conversation with a stranger try to be aware of what you're saying. Chances are, you'll be telling approximately three (3) lies in a conversation that only lasts for ten (10) minutes. Although detecting these might be hard since most of them would touch our lips unconsciously. Something simple, like saying that you're 'okay' even if you just broke up with your girlfriend. But, lying is not a unique human characteristic, we're not the only ones out there who're good at doing it. In fact, even our evolutionary cousins also are — the Apes. The most famous study on non-human lying is with Koko the Gorilla. During the 1970s, Koko was taught with using sign language. And when an accident happened with her room's sink, that left it shattered. She blamed her pet kitten for ripping it out of the wall (what a ferocious kitten).
Apes have shown evidence of non-human lying | proof that lying has been essential and hardwired to our brains even before the existence of modern-day homininae
   Unlike our mammalian cousins, the human brain is different for the reason that it loves doing it. Studies say that humans learn to lie as early as 6-months old. Ever remember babies faking their cry? During our college lives, we do it once every five interactions. And when adulthood hits, we do it so well that we can even believe our lies — an artistic process that our brains are capable of by holding two conflicting information at the same time and ignoring one of them. But are there any extreme cases of lying? There is, we call this compulsive lying.
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"Lying at times is healthy. It helps us build lasting relationships with others. But doing it so often might only lead to conflict. There are those who could not stop themselves from habitual lying. We call them Pathological liars."
     Pathological liars are different from others not only because they lie compulsively but because their brains have 25% more white matter and less gray matter compared to standard ones. White matter is responsible for making connections between things for it is its primary function. Thus, they tend to be better at (1) keeping the info they need to sustain the lie, (2) read the person that they're lying to, (3) suppress their emotions, and (4) believe their lies. However, having less gray matter leaves little room for critical thinking, which is necessary to create long lasting relationships.
     But if we are good at detecting lies, why are we still being fooled? I believe that it is because of certain contradictions that happen in our minds. Even if we have already caught someone in the act, we still try our best to rationalize things, to make ourselves believe that what you see 'might not' be the case. In my opinion, this is one of the values that makes us human. Something that transcends the thresholds of science and the halls of Philosophy. A question not of how, but why?
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"Ceci n'est pas une pipe" | "This is not a pipe" | The treachery of images | Rene Magritte | sometimes the things that we believe in are not what really is but are only representations to help us comprehend the complex reality
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