YouSpeak: Is It Ever OK to Lie?
Recent public scandals put question front and center
Lying is all around us. First, we heard disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong confess to Oprah Winfrey that he had doped for years and lied about it—an admission that followed years of accusations and sufficient evidence to strip Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles.
Then last week, 22 year-old Ronaiah Tuiasosopo admitted to TV psychologist Dr. Phil that he had perpetrated an elaborate hoax on Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, masquerading online as a fictional young woman named Lennay Kekua and claiming to be in love with the gridiron star. (Tuiasosopo told Dr. Phil that in reality, he was in love with Te’o himself.)
Those revelations come on the heels of a presidential campaign notable for accusations that candidates were lying about their accomplishments. At one point, GOP vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan boasted that he’d run a marathon in just under three hours. Journalists later discovered he’d taken more than four hours to finish the race.
Yes, lying is part of the human condition. But is it necessary? This week’s “YouSpeak” asks: “Is it ever OK to lie?”
“YouSpeak” typically appears each Monday.
If you have a suggestion for a question you’d like us to ask, post it in the comments section below.
5 Comments
next thing we need is au bon pain. I totally would not mind if they replaced einsteins in cas with it!
sorry this was meant to go on the other article. I have the bu taco bell plans article open in another tab
is it just me, or is accidentally saying 3 hours instead of 4 not really in the same league as creating an entirely fake persona, intentionally deceiving someone into falling in love with it, and then not doing anything when it causes a national scandal and nearly ruins someones career and reputation… I think the Ron Paul thing can safely be called a “senior moment” (he’s still 77 and running marathons, that alone is impressive), but the Te’o incident seems utterly psychotic.
Wasn’t it Paul Ryan not Ron Paul, hence definitely not a senior moment?
oops my bad. Still the point is it doesn’t compare to the other scenario…