Seriously, is lying bad for us?

 

So many lies. You'd think they're growing somewhere, harvested and "sold" to the public.

"Perhaps the most powerful moral argument for honesty has to do with what the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre called "bad faith." Liars deceive others, but in a sense, liars also deceive themselves. When we lie we tend to distort our own view of reality, and the more often we lie, the more habitual this distortion becomes. Over time, the habit of lying divorces us further and further from reality, so we see less and less clearly the choices before us and what is at stake in them. Eventually, we may find ourselves unable to see what we are really doing and how it is affecting others and ourselves. We end up leading inauthentic and irresponsible lives."

Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD*

Is Lying Bad for Us?, Dr. Richard Gunderman, The Atlantic,13 Feb 2013.

Seriously, is lying bad for us?

Everybody lies. Right? 

I mean it’s part of our lifestyle to exaggerate about a multitude of things. 

For instance, it’s normal to expand a little about how much money one has; how successful one’s children are; how smart the kids are; or, what a great sex life one has. Those are just a few common things people lie about.

But that’s small potatoes lying when you think about it. Especially when compared to the average falsehood manufacturing many political people do for a living.

Then there’s the unequalled king of lying, Mr. Trump. Remember his all-time record during his first term? There’s even a Wikipedia page devoted to his record:

"Donald Trump has made tens of thousands of false or misleading claims, including as President of the United States. Fact-checkers at The Washington Post documented 30,573 false or misleading claims during his first presidential term, an average of 21 per day."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_or_misleading_statements_by_Donald_Trump

He’s not done of course. During the first 100 days of his second term, CNN reported, Mr. Trump continued his deceptive style. But, instead of tracking all of them, they listed only 100.

“Some of Trump’s 2025 false claims were about consequential policy matters, others about trivial personal fixations. Some were sophisticated distortions about obscure subjects, others obvious fictions about issues average Americans experience in their daily lives. Many were ad-libbed or posted on social media, but many were scripted into prepared remarks.”

“Aside from the staggering frequency and the trademark brazenness, what stood out was how repetitive Trump’s lying was. Though he regularly sprinkled in some fresh deception, he deployed a core batch of favored falsehoods again and again – undeterred by the fact that many of these claims had been publicly debunked for months or even years.”

Fact check: Debunking 100 Trump false claims from his first 100 days, Daniel Dale, CNN, 29 April 2025.

https://www.cnn.com/politics/fact-check-trump-false-claims-debunked

All this lying doesn’t seem to matter much. Because, like me, most just expect it and discount everything coming from that direction. 

Still, we do face a challenge here.

Because no one knows what is fact and what is not.

*Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD, is a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He is a professor of radiology, pediatrics, medical education, philosophy, liberal arts, and philanthropy, and vice-chair of the Radiology Department, at Indiana University. Gunderman's most recent book is X-Ray Vision.

Lying, Misleading, Deceiving and Tricking

 

Discrediting Biden using any misleading or fraudulent means is the
Trump Republican standard practice.

Acts of gerrymandering, voter suppression, armed thuggery, voter intimidation, threats of violence and insurrection, Russian hackers… all these things must not be enough to ensure Mr. Trump’s hold on the White House in the minds of the Trump Republicans. 

No, they must and have gone to the lowest of lows. 

They have become remarkable practitioners of social media age deception, lying and trickery, having honed their skills to a degeneracy of exponential despicableness.

Just think, one day soon your grandchildren will earn their degree in the fine art of deception and trickery, all based on the 2020 Trump Campaign.

Below are a few examples of the Trump Republican’s unmatchable work product. The first is from,  Trump campaign posts fake video of Biden, Elyse Samuels, The Washington Post, 2 Sept 2020:

White House social media director tweets manipulated video of Biden

"White House social media director Dan Scavino tweeted a manipulated video that depicts Democratic
presidential nominee Joe Biden as asleep in a TV interview. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)"

Four fake videos from Republicans draw tardy or no response from Facebook, Twitter, Donie O’Sullivan and Daniel Dale, mercurynews.com, 1 Sept 2020.

Facebook Removes Russia-Linked Ploy To Spread Disinformation Among Left-Leaning Voters, Nick Visser, huffpost.com, 2 Sept 2020.

Take Your Media... Government & Your Life Back

How?
Seek truth. Find truth. Live truth. Only accept the truth. That's how we get our media, government and our lives back.

Is Lying Bad for Us?
"Perhaps the most powerful moral argument for honesty has to do with what the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre called "bad faith." Liars deceive others, but in a sense, liars also deceive themselves. When we lie we tend to distort our own view of reality, and the more often we lie, the more habitual this distortion becomes. Over time, the habit of lying divorces us further and further from reality, so we see less and less clearly the choices before us and what is at stake in them. Eventually, we may find ourselves unable to see what we are really doing and how it is affecting others and ourselves. We end up leading inauthentic and irresponsible lives."
Is Lying Bad for Us?, Dr. Richard Gunderman, The Atlantic, 13 Feb 2013.

Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD, is a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He is a professor of radiology, pediatrics, medical education, philosophy, liberal arts, and philanthropy, and vice-chair of the Radiology Department, at Indiana University. Gunderman's most recent book is X-Ray Vision.

Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Marketing, Manipulation & The American Mind,
(extract) by Samuel C. Spitale

Conclusion
"Since Beliefs are based in fear, abandoning Belief requires bravery."

"It’s all too easy to disregard new information that disrupts our understanding of the world. It’s easier to rely on bigoted Belief systems we inherited from former generations, institutionalized in our culture.

"It is always useful to think badly about people one has exploited or plans to exploit. Modifying one’s opinions to bring them into line with one’s actions or planned actions is the most common outcome of...cognitive dissonance.

"You can cobble together and defend an assortment of facts that bolster your identity and satisfy your psychological needs. On history, as on science, as on economics, conservatives have done just this: they’ve written a powerful and compelling, though inaccurate, script that reinforces their system of beliefs in both a logical and an emotional way. A narrative they can then pass on to children at their earliest ages.

"These long-held Belief systems continue to thrive because they work. It’s how the powerful subjugate the powerless.

"But it traps us in a prison of Belief. We are unable to see the bars made of our own bias.

“The ultimate failure of the United States will probably not derive from the problems we see or the conflicts we wage; it will more likely derive from our uncompromising belief in the things we consider unimpeachable and idealized and beautiful.” —Chuck Klosterman, But What if We’re Wrong?

"Rejecting information that challenges our Beliefs keeps us from evolving. Remaining trapped in a partisan vacuum, we deny infinite knowledge only a keyboard click away.

"When we avoid discomfort in favor of ignorance, we sacrifice democracy in the process.

"This is the high cost of low politics. And why America’s future remains uncertain. The forces that peddle lies have too much at stake to correct course, and they are only growing more powerful.
A pseudo-aristocracy of wealth finds a way to assert its social power. We see how inherited wealth grants status without any guarantee of merit or talent. To wit: would we know Donald Trump, George W. Bush, Jesse Jackson Jr., or such Hollywood names as Charlie Sheen and Paris Hilton, except for the fact that these, and many others like them, had powerful, influential parents?

"Following in the footsteps of authoritarian regimes, the Trump presidency ensures that lies muddy the truth more than ever. Very shrewd people know how to push our buttons. And they are paid good money to do so.

"The principles of Propaganda and Psychology are at work tirelessly whether we realize it or not.

"These merchants of Marketing will not go quietly, nor relinquish their reigns in a moment of conscience. Their money buys influence. Their influence buys power. And power has no conscience. It is only concerned with control.

"Controlling the message is how they control the people.

"The only way to break free is through critical thinking.

“Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.” –H.G. Wells
The biggest mistake of those who don’t use Propaganda is that they underestimate its power.

We often assume people are smart enough to see through the slander. But we’re weened on a media diet that knows no boundaries.

"We each live in different target markets, segmented by race, gender, and class, reinforced by media messages tailored to our preferences.

"Our Beliefs are a combination of stories we are sold, and stories we are told, mythologized by our environment.

"If those stories aren’t based in truth, they may be doing more harm than good.

"Belief is not truth. It is manufactured consent.

"Life is not fair. And the world is not just.

"Believing it is... only ensures it won’t be.

"To paraphrase a successful ad campaign:
How does America spell Belief?"

“O - U - R — B - I - A - S”

Please go here for the entire article:
Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Marketing, Manipulation & The American Mind, Samuel C. Spitale, The Huffington Post, 1 May 2017.

Samuel C. Spitale is a Los Angeles-based writer. His social and political commentary on inequality, income disparity, and the struggles of the Middle Class can be found on his personal website: www.SamuelCSpitale.com. He has founded a humorous story-sharing site about disaster dating in the digital age: www.ItGetsWorseBlog.com. His essays have been featured on Advocate.com. Samuel previously wrote for The Star Wars Insider and www.starwars.com and worked in Product Development for over ten years at Lucasfilm Ltd. Samuel is a graduate of LSU, with a Bachelor in Mass Communication and a Master in Media Management.