Deception, once considered intolerable and wrong, is now viewed as a justification for our foibles and the spreading of misinformation. It has attained universal popularity among media houses, researchers, scientists, advertisers and a myriad of other professions. The concept has even spread to businesses and academic institutions and has achieved overwhelming popularity in the entertainment industry.
Blatant dishonesty is often concealed behind more delicate names such as half-truths, camouflage and trickery, but still manifests itself in the form of lies, ambiguity, misinformation, exaggeration and understatement. With the emergence of our present generation, deception has earned a reputation for being an “exciting” source of entertainment and drama.
Many viewers have witnessed the new shows flooding the television networks with story lines devoted to exploring the uncovering of deception.
The Maury show, where cheaters are revealed in all their treachery, is an especially famous example. These television shows continue to flourish and spark reliably high viewer ratings.
Who can we thank for the skyrocketing success of dishonest television? We are all to blame. You, me, and every other viewer who jeers, laughs or screams at the victims in these TV shows is contributing to the epidemic of foolishness. Collectively, we need to open our eyes and recognize the deception inherent in our everyday lives.
What, you might ask, is the problem with deception? Everything. People rely on the honesty of others to manage their everyday lives and generally expect to be told the truth. Yet, when roles are reversed, people are quick to utilize deception in achieving their selfish aims and avoiding confrontation.
If we expected people to lie to us, and if they expected us to lie to them, then deception would not be wrong. It would be the standard, thus it wouldn’t be useful.
However, since people expect us to tell the truth and we expect them to tell it back, deception becomes wrong. Yet, (in a twisted way) it is a useful method for us to find out the truth about someone or something.
The main reason deception still continues to prosper and weave its way in every part of our lives on a regular basis is because it is useful. We all know that no one is 100 percent truthful. Every one practices deception in various forms on a daily basis.
Rejection, failure and disapproval from others are not results we wish to embrace, so we use half-truths here and there when asked for our honest opinion and deception gets a warm, spacious area on which to grow and set deep into its roots. Since people are already aware of this bias or tendency to lie, they have used it in the same manner that doctors use bacteria to fight bacteria; they use deception to get truth. How ironic!
Deception will continue to exist in our society and lives in general. Because it is useful, it is a necessary evil.
The challenge therefore is, can we depart from our natural tendency to lie or deceive and just tell the truth? But, furthermore, can we do it consistently?
Camilla Chebet can be reached at cchebet@spartans.ut.edu