# How easy is it to lie? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 15, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329 "2013-10-15T18:09:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/21 "2013-10-15T22:29:44Z")
I’m a terrible, awful, horrible liar. I can’t do it. The only person I lie to is my dentist. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/22 "2013-10-15T23:10:38Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m a terrible, awful, horrible liar. I can’t do it. The only person I lie to is my dentist. hahaha love it! And I am the exact same way. Except I don’t lie to my dentist, I don’t care what they think. I’ve lied (most lies of omission) only when “necessary.” I hate dishonesty. I have to admit when people ask me how much I drink, I do bend the truth a little, as is expected from drunks. ---
**Author:** ![AnaMen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@AnaMen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnaMen)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/23 "2013-10-16T02:11:18Z")
Lying believably is effortless, but I can’t stand to do it. Seeing the person believe me feels horrible. I will lie if I must, but not for trivial reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/24 "2013-10-16T02:16:00Z")
I’m terrible at lying, but I’ve learned to be very good at telling the truth, which is often just as good. Mind you, I don’t tell the _whole_ truth. For one thing, there’s an awful lot of it, and I don’t know most of it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/25 "2013-10-16T02:45:54Z")
It’s easy for me and I’m very good at it. I mostly don’t do. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/26 "2013-10-16T09:36:18Z")
I usually don’t lie to anyone, with the exception of my parents. After bullshitting them on a 24/7 basis throughout my entire childhood and adolescence, it just became a reflex, and now I still do it even when I have absolutely no reason to. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/27 "2013-10-16T11:20:28Z")
Some of us here are fiction writers, and so are professional liars, even if not up to the level of stage magicians and politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/28 "2013-10-16T15:07:59Z")
Depends who I’m lying to and what it’s about. I lie easily to telemarketers, my mother, and people I don’t care about. To my boyfriend or sister, I can’t lie convincingly. Nor do I want to, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/29 "2013-10-16T15:27:09Z")
I can lie easily and naturally. But I try not to. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/30 "2013-10-16T16:14:35Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I usually don’t lie to anyone, with the exception of my parents. After bullshitting them on a 24/7 basis throughout my entire childhood and adolescence, it just became a reflex, and now I still do it even when I have absolutely no reason to. Great username/post combination 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/31 "2013-10-16T16:18:18Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > I suppose there are a lot of variables here but on average do you find it easy or difficult to lie? > > I was hanging out with my SO and his mom this weekend and I was a bit taken aback by the ease with which he concocted a story about what he did on his day off. I think what you’re _really_ asking is: “What if you realize that your capacity for lying is pretty different from your SO’s?” - Are you worried in general about his character, or more specifically that there are things he is lying about to you? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/32 "2013-10-16T17:28:03Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I’m a terrible liar. :dubious: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lowdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Lowdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lowdown)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/33 "2013-10-17T20:45:17Z")
Although I seldom do, I’ve always been able to lie like a champ. I find it a curse, because I will pick up on it when most people are lying and it drives me crazy. The better I know you, the easier it is to tell. It’s practically a guarantee with anyone I’m in a relationship with, and that has made for some bad days. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/34 "2013-10-17T20:52:51Z")
I’ve held off posting in this thread until now, but it absolutely _shocks_ me how easily some of you lie. ---
**Author:** ![Sallyoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Sallyoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sallyoh)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/35 "2013-10-18T11:21:06Z")
I am such a bad liar… My face turns tomato red if I do… But since my mom is old and falls for it, I suppose it’s easy to lie to her. She still believes that I’m a virgin, and she has asked me about ten times. I feel like I’m a professional liar now… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/36 "2013-10-18T12:35:24Z")
As it happens, I live on an island where half the people always lie and half the people always tell the truth. I am one of the liars. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/37 "2013-10-18T12:55:04Z")
I find it easier to withhold the truth than to actually make stuff up. I don’t like lying, it makes me uncomfortable and, for the most part, I can’t see the need for it. I’m sure I’m not very convincing when I do it. I still feel guilty about a lie I told 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/38 "2013-10-18T13:28:24Z")
I do not generally lie. The only sort of lie I consider “legitimate” is an answer to a direct personal question. Basically, if you ask me something that is none of your business, and refusing to answer is tantamount to an answer, I think it’s ethically okay to lie. So, like, if I were trying to have another baby (which I am not–this is hypothetical) but it wasn’t going well, and someone asked me “Are you planning on having another?”, I’d be fine with just saying “No”, even if it wasn’t strictly true, because, really, my reproductive adventures are none of their business. On the other hand, I do sometimes exaggerate things. I don’t intend to, and I force myself to go back and correct when I do. So I might tell people 'I get to work at 6:30 every day" when really it’s more like 6:45 before I am actually in the building and clocked in. I don’t know why I say “6:30” if I don’t force myself to be more accurate, but I do. It’s like I have this vague fear that I don’t come across quite as hardcore as I want to be, and I instinctively exaggerate just a tad. But I really fight against that. ---
**Author:** ![BrickaBracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BrickaBracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickaBracka)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/39 "2013-10-18T13:59:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I find it very, _very_ hard to lie. > > Trust me. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > …until you became a blind paraplegic, right? > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I believe you. > Damn! you _are_ good! > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I am Spartacus! > (First in) > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I’ve held off posting in this thread until now, but it absolutely _shocks_ me how easily some of you lie. Ah HAH! Caught you, you little liar! Pants on FIYAH!!! ---
**Author:** ![BrickaBracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BrickaBracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickaBracka)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329/40 "2013-10-18T14:05:00Z")
And to the OP, I lie daily. And easily. I maintain a consistency to my lie though, nothing that requires an elaborate story. I just lie about my feelings towards certain things. And the reason I’m so good at it? Because if you ask me how I’m doing, or if I want to do XYZ, I’ll be honest and tell you I’m feeling mediocre, and no, I don’t want to go to the beach with you. I should really learn to play poker. But when my schizophrenic alcoholic crack addicted mother asks me if I love her, and if I want to spend time with her, why yes of course I do, and I’m just soooo busy I’m sorry I can’t this weekend. Not to save her feelings, but to save the feelings of my grandmother. Reality is all about perception, and creating a perception for another person that modifies the reality of that person in such a way that benefits YOUR reality, well that’s pretty nifty. Because that’s what successful liars do. Everyone lies. Those who don’t, never get very far in life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-easy-is-it-to-lie/671329.md?page=3)