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Honest money goes further — why lying is like toxic waste
“Lies are the social equivalent of toxic waste: Everyone is potentially harmed by their spread.” — Sam Harris, in his 2011 book about lying
I am not perfect. I lie. I pride myself of being candid, straightforward, honest, but at times I resort to the lie. I like telling my son — who is notoriously late in the mornings for school — that it is already 8 am and not 7:45 am. We have a word for this: “a white lie”.
A white lie is untrue but not intended to cause harm or misrepresent essential matters. In my case, it is a trick to get my son to school in time.
In other cases, not telling the truth and blatantly lying matter greatly. You probably know the joke, “How can you tell that a politician is lying?” — Their lips are moving. Did somebody say Brexit? Did somebody say weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Lies can grow to be much bigger than just misinformation or a white lie. At times, the person gets away with it seemingly without being held accountable, at least not personally. However, 100,000’s of people who die and millions displaced as a consequence surely pay the price.
