We love telling stories, and I hope have wild imagination. So admit it we lie. I use to tell people I do quilting, that's what I tell people, when ever I went to exhibitions or industry gatherings I told people who asked what I did, or if I had a business card. (I am a IT consultant who does SEO) I am now proud to tell them I am a writer, even though I am yet to sell anything.
Of course we do. In primatology, the lie is the Holy Grail of proofs for human-like sentience in other primates. It firmly implies that the being has Theory of Mind, that it understands that the knowledges held by others are different than the knowledges held by the self, and that these knowledges can be subverted for personal gain or protection. I don't tell long lies, but only because the first rule of good lying is to keep things as simple as possible. The more parts a lie has, the more opportunities there are for getting snagged.
You've got to clarify what you mean by lies, I think. Are they just words that come out of your mouth that you know are false and that you use to make someone else believe something false? Or is it lie when I, for example, give a polite greeting to someone I don't like? When I treat someone with respect when I think she's an idiot? Nod and smile as if I'm listening when really my mind is miles away? A fine line between lies and courtesy, I think.
Though it lies decades in the past, the longest held, most encompassing lie of which I have ever been guilty is telling people I was str8 when I was younger.
I've pretended to care about members of my extended family for about 20 years... pretty big lie, and gone on for quite a while. And I'll probably keep doing it.
Did you full-on tell them, or just let them believe it? (Not that it matters, really - just part of my exploration of the subtle distinctions between different kinds of lies).
In my case, I didn't really tell people I was straight in so many words. But I did go on dates with girls back then, thus giving the impression that I was straight. That made people believe it. Of course, I was really just bullshitting myself, trying to believe that if I went through the motions of being straight, I would become straight, and would therefore have a much easier life. Turns out it doesn't work that way.
Yeah, that's another distinction - is it a lie if you're also lying to yourself, or if you're not sure what the truth is and are just 'exploring' or whatever. Nothing's black and white. I think I like that.
I would say there was a general mish-mash of different flavors of lies. Lies of omission were very present. Lies of permitted assumption (not correcting). But there were active lies too.
I don't think I've got any big lies, disappointingly. My mother can embellish a story to the point where it bears little resemblance to the truth and places people inaccurately in a bad light. When I was younger she would be telling me something and I would be disbelieving it as a matter of course. It used to irritate me beyond measure and resulted in various arguments. So as for lying myself, I try not to.
