The Way Of Deceit

What exactly is it about human beings that causes us to be so dishonest? I really don't get it. Although multiple theories have been put forward by different people, scholar and otherwise, to explain this, it still doesn't make sense to me. The most widely accepted theories are based upon the need for self preservation. Some people lie because of the gain they stand to get, while others lie for the sake of preventing the loss of something they stand to lose if the truth comes out, either way, it's self preservation.

A lot of people use the terms lying, dishonesty and deceit interchangeably, while but they have some elements in common, they aren't same. According to english.stackexchange.com/questions , 'lying is the act of telling something known to be false. Deceiving is using some sort of plot for personal advantage. Misleading is causing someone to have a wrong idea or impression of something. They are all pretty similar, but the devil's in the details here. Lying and misleading might be tools used for the purposes of deception, but saying that someone was deceived is ultimately saying that there was a trick or scheme involved for the deceiver's gain. Misleading doesn't necessarily involve telling falsehoods or untruths, just that the end result is in causing someone to have a misconception about something. Lying, meanwhile, is the act of saying something that is demonstrably not true while knowing it to be not true.'

From the above we can see that they aren't really same. From here you can deceit is even more of a greater even than dishonesty/lying. I don't pride myself as the kindest person on earth, but I can hardly see a scenario where I would intentionally peddle falsehood to someone else's loss or detriment just because I stand to gain something. This is what makes deceit different from lying, that is, the elements of gain/avantage to the deceiver and probable loss to the deceived.

A lot are guilty of this thing called deceit and it's quiet shamefulv and evil, if you ask me. Why should you intentionally do or say something that would mislead someone else and possibly cause then harm because it might benefit you? Don't you have a conscience?

Author's Epilogue

Let us understand this, it's one thing to be telling an harmless lie, and another thing entirely to tell a lie that has the potential to cause harm to someone else. This questions our humanity, but again humans have got little of that these days.

This article was actually inspired by the deceitful antics of some people I'm in business with. Maybe, I'll get to write a detailed story about that. Until then, it's still your favourite girl signing out for the day.

Lead image source:

https://discover.hubpages.com/health/Lies-Deceit

Thanks for your time!

Mhizutty the voice of truth 🎵🎶🎵