That’s a lie.
I’m pretty certain I have known at least one dog that would lie to get her own way. In one of the clearest examples Z, an alsatian wanted the ball that her rather dimmer son S was carrying about. She ran up a little rise and stuck her head in a bush, tail frantically wagging. Everything about her posture suggested there was something really interesting in that bush. S rushed up to join her and, typically, let his jaw hang open in his eagerness to get the scent ofwhatever was in there. Almost before the ball fell Z dived for it. S was left still hopefully peering into the bush while Z was doing her victory dance with the ball.
What is meant by ‘genetic’ is better understood than what is meant by ‘other innate means’, so yes ‘innate’ can stand for ‘genetic’ for the sake of this discussion.
I believe that lying is neither genetic nor inherited from Adam as a result of the fall, since I don’t believe we are born in sin. (Although I don’t know if this is what Psycho Pirate means by ‘born with a sin nature’.) My position is that we are born with a tendency to sin.
It is interesting that prohibition on giving false testinomy is included as one of the Ten Commandments. And that Satan is referred to as the father of lies, indeed as a liar from the beginning, as well as a murderer. Lying, especially in court, would, I contend, equate to murder of the soul.
But it’s a choice.
Reminds of a coon dog named “Molly”. Molly was old and nearly blind. She spent most of her time penned up on the farm. My friend Drake and I decided to take Molly out on a hunt one night. She had once been a great coon dog and having been sidelined for so long she was obviously very happy from the moment we loaded her up to go out. She took to the woods like she had never missed a day. Swam the river, picked up a scent and treed one just a little while into the hunt. It was a beautiful sight !
As we called her in to load up she reluctantly came in with her head down as if she knew that it would be her last chance to do the one thing she had come to know. The one thing she had trained and lived for. When she caught sight of the truck she turned and “treed” on the first tree in sight. As we tried to pull her off and to the truck she continued to sound off at every tree with her “treed” call. She was lying. She was lying in an attempt to stay just a little longer.
Just FWIW
Well what is “lying”? It is using language to deceive, right? Since we humans are the only creatures with language ability, it stands to reason that it is innate to our species.
There is no such thing as a “lying” gene, however all species are genetically engineered for survival or both themselves and the species (not necessarily in that order). It then also stands to reason that absent any morality, a species with language would lie when it is in their best interest and tell the truth when telling the truth is in their best interest.
In fact, IMHO, morality is simply an evolved response to surviving in a complex society. One does not steal, lie, murder or rape not out of fear of punishment or altruism, but because the other members of society would treat that person as a thief, liar, murderer, rapist. You cannot hold a job, find a SO, or even maintain relationships if others do not trust that you won’t cause them harm.
No, it doesn’t. It might stand to reason that it is limited to our species, but that has nothing to do with whether or not the behavior is innate.