Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : FREE AMERICA -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (14284)	6/11/2007 1:53:06 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

"did we not agree that most people will never lie unless it benefits them? " We did not agree on this. It is imo demonstrably not true. There are people who lie when it does not benefit them, and some people seem to lie all the time even when it clearly hurts them. So no, I couldn't agree with that. Most people lie when they think it helps them, or when they do not think it hurts them, and some people lie when they think they are helping someone else, but lying seems to be something all people do, and we do it very young, so I tend to think it's one of those wired in traits, and it probably has huge benefits for survival. I can think of numerous ways lying could help you survive. I'm sure you can too. I doubt religious belief, or belief in an afterlife, has much to do with how much people lie. It probably has some impact on the guilt people feel about lying, and it may make people more likely to try to atone, but I doubt it actually stops lying- since from what I have observed in children and adults lies often fly off the lips before conscious thought- it looks like a defense mechanism to me, a sort of fight or flight response of the brain, rather than a well thought out moral judgment. I think there is a very quick odds weighing- of "will I be caught versus what am I trying to achieve and how likely is it to be achieved"- but I don't think people throw right and wrong in to the mix. Here's some scholarship on lying- just read the first few paragraphs- there are some studies mentioned there: geocities.com

To: one_less who wrote (14284)	6/11/2007 2:12:02 PM
From: epicure	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14758

Here's a fascinating report on police perjury: ncjrs.gov The numbers who would lie are very high. I don't think belief in an afterlife or eternity probably has much impact on lying- because we know that if police follow normal statistics most of these folks are religious, and from what I remember of the statistics of police, it tends to draw a more religious population that the country at large. Apparently, though, reminding officers constantly not to embellish does have some impact- so perhaps lying is such a natural function of being human that constant reminding- secular or religious- is the only thing that can tamp it down a little- although clearly it does not eliminate it. It's probably a little like noticing your breath- if I remind you to notice it, you will, for a little while, but pretty soon you will forget. Even if it were critical for your religion that you notice your breath, you probably wouldn't be able to keep it in mind. Constant reminding would be the only thing that would work- and it wouldn't matter if the reminder was your boss or you religious leader, it would probably have about the same impact.