Lying experiment (1)

I was driving to the old homestead last week and stopped for dinner in a pizza joint by the highway. Having nothing to do but listen to the right-wing chitter chatter of the pizza chefs, I picked up a free parenting newsletter. In it was an article about children lying. The article said in part that although you may be hurt when your precious wee four-year-old lies to you, don't worry. It's a sign of advancing cognitive development! The average adult lies eleven times a week.

The last bit fascinated me--eleven times a week? Isn't that a lot? The article cited no source; after googling, I determined this number, eleven, is an urban myth. However, I found that actually, it's probably more like twenty-five times a day.

Have I been over-reacting to dishonesty over the course of my life? My parents had a very clear no-lying policy, which I broke often, but which did leave me with the impression that lying was a very serious offense (a violation of one's own self worth and of another's trust) and to be avoided if at all possible. Recently, students told me some whoppers, and I've gotten upset and sad.

(Recent stories I have heard or heard of include: no paper due to injured Dachshund that had to be rushed to a special hospital; deceased grandparent; waxing appointment that conflicted with class.)

But maybe this lying isn't such a big deal after all?

I therefore decided last night around 6 pm to keep track for one week of my own lying.

I think we all know that people tell "white lies" often out of social nicety, for diplomatic reasons, etc. As in, "I like your hair!" Stuff like that, I'm not interested in. I want to know how many times in a week I tell unequivocal falsehoods, and why. I am not counting stuff that I don't totally agree with or mean, but say to be nice or polite or diplomatic. I mean clear falsehoods, statements that can't in any way be true, no matter how you spin them.

I started the experiment at about 6 pm last night, and by 6:30 pm I had lied in order to get a student discount ticket to a movie. The ticket seller asked if I was a student, and I said yes. Then, I had to fill out a raffle at the theater, and I checked the "student" box, but also checked "other" hoping to mitigate the falsehood.

However, since then I haven't noticed any more.