Jonathan Moore
Melinda Schroeder English Composition 101 September 28, 2016 Summarization In “Why We Lie”, adapted from the Wall Street Journal article The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty, Dan Ariely illustrates that dishonesty is unavoidable. Through a series of controlled tests he measures the amount of dishonest behavior among the participants. Through additional testing he then tries to find out what makes people cheat to the degree they do, and then what keeps people honest. His final answer is that cheating is something we all do, if even to a small degree. (440 – 46) Paraphrase of Paragraph 10 Though the evidence shows that everyone cheats, finding the motivation behind cheating was the logical next step. Quotation “This experiment has obvious implications for the real world. While ethics lectures and training seem to have little to no effect on people, reminders of morality – right at the point where people are making a decision – appear to have an outsized effect on behavior.” (Ariely, par. 19) This paragraph really spoke to me. I’ve always believed that deception is against our basic moral make up, our core morality. I believe every sane person has a basic concept of what is right and wrong and to act deceptively contradicts this. The body reacts to this contradiction through galvanic skin responses, blushing faces and body language. It’s probably why it’s easier to remember the truth than it is to remember a lie. My Two Cents Though I enjoyed “Why We Lie” it only covered one form of dishonesty. Some people may not consider cheating and telling a lie the same thing. I found it lacked insight into the different types of lies people tell, and the fact that truth can be different depending on the perspective. I often tell people, jokingly, that the water on the left side of the Hood Canal Bridge looks different than the right because one side is salt water while the other is fresh water. Is it wrong that I believe in Santa Claus because I see him every year staring at me in the mirror? I suppose the degree of a lie would depend on the motivation for the lie. Cited Work Ariely, Dan. “Why We Lie.” The Bedford Reader 12th Edition (2014): 440 – 46. Print Links to Comments on Other Blogs Eve Hudson Makayla Harvey
7 Comments
Levi Laungayan
9/28/2016 10:33:40 pm
I appreciated your thoughts on the motivation of a lie and agree that they only convered Cheating in this article. I kept waiting for the article to change from cheating to other forms of lying.
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9/29/2016 10:19:43 am
Thanks for the comment Levi,
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Melinda M. Schroeder
9/29/2016 12:46:41 pm
Excellent job here, Chi. I like your personal example about the Hood Canal and think that sometimes people just go with the flow of the crowd without even thinking twice about whether it is truth or not. It does appear to be an opinion piece, but he does have an entire book on the art of lying and why we lie.
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Melinda M. Schroeder
9/29/2016 12:48:18 pm
I meant to put, Jon! My bad, there! :) You guys are right next to each other on my list of students via last name. Geesh.
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9/29/2016 09:55:21 pm
Thanks for the comment Professor, 10/1/2016 06:34:49 pm
Jon,
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10/1/2016 08:45:59 pm
Thanks for the comment Andrea,
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