“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes,” so goes the famous Mark Twain quote. Except, ironically, it wasn’t Mark Twain who came up with it.
The quip is thought to have descended from a line by Anglo-Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, born nearly 200 years before Twain. It’s a fitting analogy for our relationship with truth, which is more complicated than you might think.
The Invention of Lying
According to National Geographic, birds are “among nature’s most gifted liars”, with the blue jay able to imitate the call of hawks causing rival birds to flee from food sources, while the cowbird sneaks its eggs into other birds’ nests to trick them into raising their young.
The eastern grey squirrel will pretend to bury nuts in several places to confuse its fellow rodents before settling on a final hiding spot, and opossums are capable of faking death whenever threatened. The female bolus spider can even emit an odour that’s the exact chemical copy of a pheromone released by a female moth so that the arachnid can lure, and devour, male moths.
While such moves might make the creatures appear Machiavellian masters, their actions are what’s known as functional deception, meaning they do it without really knowing why. In order to be true liars, intentional deception must be carried out which requires an awareness of other creatures’ capabilities to interpret one’s actions – known as theory of mind. Some studies have shown potential for apes to possess theory of mind, while dogs signal intentions to play – or fight – with certain poses, implying that they too are aware of how their actions are being interpreted by their fellow canines. However, animal researchers disagree on whether any study truly proves theory of mind, with Greg Bryant, cognitive scientist at UCLA telling Discover Magazine that even chimpanzees’ theory of mind is “questionable” at best.
There is of course only one beast that excels at lying in its purest form: us.
The Evolution of Lying
Another famous phrase that’s often misquoted is “survival of the fittest” from Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. What the naturalist actually wrote was that the species that were most likely to survive were not the strongest or most intellectual but those that were the most adaptable to change. Fittingly, lying may be an integral part of this.
A study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B concludes that though lying might have negative connotations, evolutionarily it was essential for progress. “Tactical deception,” write the study authors, “ the misrepresentation of the state of the world to another individual, may allow cheaters to exploit conditional cooperation… this most Machiavellian element of human behaviour may be the product of one of our most beneficent characteristics – our tendency to seek mutually cooperative relationships.”
Other research has shown that “prosocial” lies – that is, mistruths intended to benefit others – are an efficient way of building trust. Emma E. Levine, a professor of behavioural science at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, tells Time that people’s primary interest in receiving information is in benevolence, and that they “care about whether you have good intentions a lot more that whether the person is being honest”. Other times when it might be best to bend the truth include when giving constructive criticism or during interactions with people with whom we are not so close. “In more competitive relationships or first interactions, honesty is a lot more precarious,” adds Levine, and “can damage relationships and reduce trust”.
No matter the reasons, it’s generally accepted that the general population fibs 1-2 times per day on average.
Truth of the Matter
A recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science found 11 main motivations for lying, including to avoid feeling judged or shamed; to avoid punishment; to impress; to protect oneself from retaliation; to make others happy; impulsiveness; and simple compulsion. Interestingly, the majority of lying (64%) was done for altruistic reasons; with secretive (60%) and prosocial reasons (43%) also scoring highly. Thankfully, bottom of the list – though still, worryingly, accounting for around 10% – were compulsion and getting a kick out of conning others. Those that scored highly in honesty and humility were obviously less likely to lie, while individuals high in emotionality (increased anxiety and emotional sensitivity) lied to avoid unpleasant or awkward situations and were also more likely to lie for altruistic reasons. Extraverts and the impulsive were more prone to lie for selfish reasons and less likely to keep secrets.
No matter the reasons, it’s generally accepted that the general population fibs 1-2 times per day on average. On the flip side, we are also very poor at detecting lies – with success rates not much better than that of chance. Though we teach children not to lie, in her book, Deciphering Lies, German philosopher Bettina Stangneth argues that it would be unwise to release children into the world unarmed with the knowledge that they may be lied to. Children generally begin to learn to lie around the age of four – once they’ve developed that theory of mind – but it takes a good few years before they’re any good at it. Research has shown that the most convincing liars are generally young adults aged between 18 and 29, and that after 45 we lose the ‘ability’ to fib (or perhaps by then, we just can no longer be bothered with the bulls**t!).
Beware of Lying Minds
Though emotionally it might sometimes be easier to tell a lie – even if only a white one – cerebrally, it’s more complex. “First, we must become aware of the truth; then we have to invent a plausible scenario that is consistent and does not contradict the observable facts,” writes psychologist Theodor Schaarschmidt for Scientific American. “At the same time, we must suppress the truth so that we do not spill the beans—that is, we must engage in response inhibition.” Next, we must assess the reactions of the listener, being prepared to make plausible additions or adaptions to our storyline, all before we get to the ethical gymnastics of mentally squaring our misdeed.
Brain-imaging scans have not only proven that lying requires more cognitive resources, but that, just as with any other unpleasant encounter such as loud noises, unpleasant smells, or violent imagery, our grey matter has the ability to adapt and become desensitised to it.
“When lying no longer stirs up negative feelings, we are able to increase the magnitude of our lies,” warn Brett Beasley and Christopher Adkins for the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership. “Recognize that your choices do not just shape the outside world. They also shape your inner world – the world of your mind, character, and emotions – in ways we are only just beginning to observe.”
