We Americans like to say that George Washington would not tell lies because he was our first president. But you know he did it. Everybody does.
Harriet Lerner writes: “Deception and con games are a way of life in all species and in all of nature. Organisms that do not improve their ability to deceive and detect deception are less likely to survive.”
That’s a date, isn’t it?
What do you think about lying?
Is it “right” sometimes and “wrong” other times? Are there white, black and gray lies?
What lie did you tell today? I lied when I said I would never ride a bus more than twenty miles again. I lie about my weight on my driver’s license. (Shave four pounds)
Think about this: by outwitting predators, our species survived.
Survival is a basic instinct built into our brain. As our brains evolved, we developed cooperation. That means trusting and telling the truth. That also helped us survive: tribal teamwork.
A capitalist economy is the natural result of these two instincts in our subconscious and primitive minds: competition and cooperation.
In any business, both the buyer and the seller must trust each other and yet believe that they got, if not the best, then at least an equal deal.
There may be some truth on both sides, but what matters is belief.
* * *
I’m excited about current brain research applied to economics.
Using neuroimaging, scientists are looking inside the mind to see why people buy, sell, save, or trust. They see which part of the brain lights up during financial negotiations.
MIT researchers wired the brains of currency speculators. They plotted the biological indicators of stress, exuberance and tension against losses and gains in real time. Such measures document how involuntary emotions affect the rise and fall of stocks.
Harvard economist David Lailson says, “Our emotional brain wants to max out the credit card, even though our logical brain knows we need to save for retirement.”
But you know what. Advertisers know that every purchase is emotional, straight from the midbrain. When I remember how many times I bought something and then lied to the husband at the time about the cost of it!
I’ll stop confessing and end with this:
* George Washington lied because he was human * It can be normal to lie, but only momentarily profitable * It is normal to lie to ourselves, but always not profitable to do so.
And one more quote:
“The people who burned witches at the stake never for a moment thought of their act as violence; rather, they thought of it as an act of divinely mandated justice. The same can be said of most of the violence that humans have committed ever”. gil bailey
This can be paraphrased: People who scammed others never for a moment thought of their actions as wrong; rather they thought of it as a justice ordained by capitalism. The same can be said for most of the high-stakes bets that corporations take.
It’s called “white collar crime.” They lie to themselves saying, “Everybody does it and we can get away with it.”
Maybe George W lied. It’s human to lie, but “To yourself, be honest.” When you’re honest with yourself and understand your motives, all your lies will be white.
In fact, I want everyone to investigate all the ways to learn about unconscious motives.
Copyright 2006 Cole Poetic License
