Other than the pathalogically ill person, can you give me an example of people lying without benefit? The examples you gave (it helps them, defense mechanism, fight or flight, helping a friend, survival) are all examples of benefits that are life time limited gratuities. From the earlier post, I offered these criteria, "seeking as much pleasure, property, power, and influence in the world as possible for the benefits those things offer in and of themselves."
" I doubt religious belief, or belief in an afterlife, has much to do with how much people lie."
I remember telling a couple of lies as a child. I suffered with feelings of guilt, causing the memory to stick. It had nothing to do with getting caught, or with worrying that God would know about it. It had to do with a natural response to having violated my own innocence.
I have caught very scholarly religious people lying and I doubt religion had any influence on their willingness to lie.
"...often fly off the lips before conscious thought-
I know that there is something natural that causes people to let a lie fly when tested. I also know that people can get very used to it and have little or no conscience about it... and I'm not referring to pathological liars.
Thanks for the article. I skimmed it but will take more time later to study it. |
