Some of my best friends are spectacular liars. Amongst my bosom buddies are compulsive liars, pathological liars, pedestrian everyday liars and the occasional white liars. They range from being in complete denial and very defensive about these characteristics to shamelessly flaunting their deceptive skills for everyone to watch.
Watching a good liar in action can be impressive
A good, well told lie is quite a strength in this day and age. Caught in a tight corner? You want your best lying buddy by your side. As you stare mouth agape with a rising panic and horror at the situation you find yourself in, your smiling lying friend walks through takes you by the hand tells a massive porky and you skip out of there without a worry in the world! As the shock subsides at how easy such a seemingly insurmountable problem is avoided through a tight lie you start to wonder what could be achieved if you were to master the wizardry of deception and dishonesty, of porky pie telling. You feel naive and vulnerable, stupid and behind the times, afraid and slow in comparison with these daring acrobats of human encounter. But why do people lie and live in denial of it?
We lie for all different reasons
Some friendships are built on the thrill of the lie. I have at least 2 sets of best-friends whose connection is often bolstered through a series of ballsy lies, they reinforce each other for the heightening risk associated with their lies, laughing and cajoling, high on the adrenalin of a big-stakes lie gone through undetected. I mull around the edges admiring their hide, loving their daring natures and seemingly lack of care for consequence. These girls are so good there rarely are consequences because if the first lie is detected there are a series of counter-lies and decoy back up lies to befuddle any would-be detective.
Lying can be thrilling
Where lying scares me it thrills others. For some I think it is a sneaky sense of getting even with the world, of self-entitled taking, a little need or resentment fuelling the act. For others I think it’s a way to be more interesting, funnily enough often these liars are already eccentric and interesting and the quirky lies they tell (and often divulge instantly) are much less interesting than they already innately are. For some, lying allows them to be on top, ever ready, powerful and in control: they get ahead with their deception and often are the defensive type, in various states of denial as it seems at odds with the powerful, world-beater perception they are desperate to convey.
Shameless liars to the end
My friends are mostly in the everyday category: just lying for convenience, to avoid having to do something or getting “in trouble”. Although I’m not yet a world-beater liar I have had some success in the field and I have chosen my friends well, I love my friend’s ability to just turn a situation on its head with a really strong ballsy lie told straight and firm and as though they are the pope’s moral guide. Some of my friend’s are so shameless and good at it they would give God a run for his money come judgement day. They are that good, seriously.
I have recently read an article titled ‘Why do people lie and live in denial’, written by Australian biologist Jeremy griffith. It has certainly got me thinking.
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