The theme of the movie 'Liar Liar' x every person on earth.

Page 1 of 2 [ 19 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

Ntstanch
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 113

16 May 2009, 11:23 pm

What do you think would happen if, for one day, no single person or even animal (maybe animals lie?) could lie in even the slightest detail?

If you ponder over that concept for awhile it gets incredibly more complex. Imagine going a week in constant and highly social situations where you are the center of attention, but you cannot so much as lie in response to a question like, " How are you? ". Meaning you cannot say that you are fine if you are otherwise. Now this will obviously differ from person to person, but just in general imagine how that could affect the world. Especially governments and politics.

For me, it seems that in an overall chain reaction sense, the world would either end or have a chance to begin again. It seems like it would be as though every closed door would have to open, and the truth and nature of people would be reflected in this. As in how people as a whole go about confronting the reality of their actions on others and vice versa. You can chose to be angry and retaliate or digress and isolate yourself. Or you could chose to realize your situation and extend your passion appropriately in an attempt to close the distance between yourselves and others which was previously and unknowingly shortened or extended.

So what do you think?


P.S. This also brings up a question that I've just asked myself... why is it that some ' white lies ' can be appropriate, or even beneficial in a longer running sense? In other words, why could lying to someone for their own good be a true concept? Or is it simply never a true concept in that lying is always harmful? I am leaning more towards it being true only in a sense that when the lies are built up and the reasons which would put someone in a situation where lying to another person for their own good, in a " You can't handle the truth. " sense, makes it so you really have no better choice but to lie to the person in order to protect them from the repercussions of so many lies. And with that you are literally protecting them from the truth.



SilverStar
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 May 2008
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,058
Location: Ohio, USA

17 May 2009, 12:45 am

If everybody started telling the truth, there would be a lot of hurt and upset people in the beginning, but in the long run, I think we would be better off. Just think if married couples starting telling each other what they really thought about each other. :D Him: "damn your getting fat honey". Her: "pack your crap you jerk" :D


Some white lies are ok, depending on the situation, because there are times telling the truth might do more harm than good.



Tahitiii
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jul 2008
Age: 68
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,214
Location: USA

17 May 2009, 1:47 am

"Damn your getting fat honey" is pointless. You don't need to lie, you can just keep your mouth shut. One can be civil without lying.

One can not, on the other hand, survive in the modern "economy" without being involved in some kind of scam. Very few people have real jobs these days.

For the rest of us, the choices are: bureaucratic nonsense; glorified welfare; daycare, public schools and other programs which do more harm than good; fondling and processing other people's money; the retail industry (half of their income is from Christmas, which is another scam); legal murder & various forms of brutality; bogus employment counseling or training; pyramid schemes; and outright scams.

If everyone woke up at the same time, we would have some seriously pissed off people. We would probably skip the chaos and starvation, and proceed directly to the nuclear holocaust.

Sometimes I think that would be an improvement. It would be such a pretty planet if it weren't infested with these vile creatures.


_________________
Occupy Everything!


dougn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Aug 2008
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 773

17 May 2009, 2:16 am

It is an interesting question.

In the immediate sense, it would cause a lot of trouble, and now that humankind has the power to exterminate itself, it's quite possible that happens.

But if we take the use of nuclear weapons off the table, I think we would wind up with war and carnage on a scale we've never even seen before, but perhaps something left to "begin again" from.

Now, if everyone both told the truth and could handle being told the truth by everyone else, that would be wonderful, but that is like talking about eliminating disease or unhappiness or something ... it just isn't realistic IMHO.



TheDoctor82
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 28 Feb 2008
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,400
Location: Sandusky, Ohio

17 May 2009, 2:25 am

dougn wrote:
It is an interesting question.

In the immediate sense, it would cause a lot of trouble, and now that humankind has the power to exterminate itself, it's quite possible that happens.

But if we take the use of nuclear weapons off the table, I think we would wind up with war and carnage on a scale we've never even seen before, but perhaps something left to "begin again" from.

Now, if everyone both told the truth and could handle being told the truth by everyone else, that would be wonderful, but that is like talking about eliminating disease or unhappiness or something ... it just isn't realistic IMHO.


Not necessarily.....cause many of the douchebags that start wars would admit their intentions ahead of time and be knocked out before they could do more harm.

As for white lies...cause many times the people getting information withheld don't want it; they're in denial.



Apep
Blue Jay
Blue Jay

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 87
Location: Texas

17 May 2009, 2:44 am

It would be overwhelming. People don't say they're fine because they're lying so much as they lack the time or energy to properly answer the question. Sometimes that is because their communication with the other person is content-free, but nonetheless required by politeness.



Ntstanch
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 113

17 May 2009, 3:30 am

Apep wrote:
It would be overwhelming. People don't say they're fine because they're lying so much as they lack the time or energy to properly answer the question. Sometimes that is because their communication with the other person is content-free, but nonetheless required by politeness.


Yeah... but I will never be convinced that pretense in even it's most harmless form is a good thing. Granted that I am a hypocrite in that when forced with answering a ' how are you ' I will almost always give the answer which will result in the shortest and best reply.



Ntstanch
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 113

17 May 2009, 3:45 am

dougn wrote:
It is an interesting question.

In the immediate sense, it would cause a lot of trouble, and now that humankind has the power to exterminate itself, it's quite possible that happens.

But if we take the use of nuclear weapons off the table, I think we would wind up with war and carnage on a scale we've never even seen before, but perhaps something left to "begin again" from.

Now, if everyone both told the truth and could handle being told the truth by everyone else, that would be wonderful, but that is like talking about eliminating disease or unhappiness or something ... it just isn't realistic IMHO.



Yeah... after giving it some though I figure that all of that in one day would be way too much. Seems like the result with that happening has a 90% chance of total chaos where people's humanity and higher functions mostly turn off into a hillbilly feud + civil war + jelous rages resulting in exponential logarithmic like increases of revenge killing. The last 10% would probably be between word getting out that no one on earth can lie, and everyone just staying inside and shutting up until it goes away ... or people actually being so overwhelmed that they learned to talk their problems out and control their anger in all it's fear based forms.



Ntstanch
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2009
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 113

17 May 2009, 4:21 am

Tahitiii wrote:
"Damn your getting fat honey" is pointless. You don't need to lie, you can just keep your mouth shut. One can be civil without lying.

One can not, on the other hand, survive in the modern "economy" without being involved in some kind of scam. Very few people have real jobs these days.

For the rest of us, the choices are: bureaucratic nonsense; glorified welfare; daycare, public schools and other programs which do more harm than good; fondling and processing other people's money; the retail industry (half of their income is from Christmas, which is another scam); legal murder & various forms of brutality; bogus employment counseling or training; pyramid schemes; and outright scams.

If everyone woke up at the same time, we would have some seriously pissed off people. We would probably skip the chaos and starvation, and proceed directly to the nuclear holocaust.

Sometimes I think that would be an improvement. It would be such a pretty planet if it weren't infested with these vile creatures.



" You cannot not communicate. " = the best thing college has taught me so far (going on 4th year, as a damn sophmore now). Granted that now days not saying anything is often the best option, since people love to judge secretly and never mention it to the person they judged... but while talking about their judgements with other people.

As far as ' You cannot not communicate ' goes ... it's true. Especially when you're like me, and show very little emotions, along with having either a pensive or angry expression most of the time. I'm often judged as arrogant or stuck up because my shyness is misinterpreted, or my deep fairly flat voice and overall lack of displayed reaction to a person can make them feel as though I could care less about them. However, over time they realize that I am none of these things... but the point is how my neutral, apathetic, or angry looking expressions, while natural and almost always not matching my mood, communicate to other people via body language that I am * insert judgement here *.

I agree... somewhat depressingly, with the rest of your post minus the last three words. Losing more people in any sense doesn't seem like it would solve anything. While their actions are vile and often indescribable in how bad they are, and all over the spectrum, it seems like the only way to solve anything is though understanding and affection or love. Most people are afraid and don't have an understanding, and who they chose to follow often influences a large amount of their behavior and personal views. And even when the people who lead are evil seeming, it is most often a result of delusion, like with Hitler, where they believe that they are servicing a greater good, or ' breaking eggs for an omelet".

So with understanding maybe the leaders would be less prone to delusion, and with that the people who are ' under ' them would be less prone to misunderstand and " do their part " out of fear that if they fail far worse will happen to their family's and loved ones. So ... yeah, throw communication onto that list.


P.S. Another night spent not studying ... I need a stop clock and a damn shock collar for message boards :P



AJCoyne
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 14 May 2009
Gender: Female
Posts: 416
Location: England

17 May 2009, 6:01 am

The thing about concepts like Liar Liar is that the writers misconstrue the meaning of truth.
For example, my mum told me not to eat biscuits while she was out.
She went out, and I dug into the biscuits.
When she came home she asked,
"Have you had anything to eat?"
I said,
"Yes." because that was the truth. Telling the truth didn't mean I had to say "Yes, I ate the biscuits." because although this is true, the extra wording would have gotten me into trouble.

If no-one in the world could lie, I don't think it would lead to a lot of people being verbally hurt...I think people are more clever than that. They would find a way around words, like in the example I just gave.

Of course, this would be very frustrating since no-one would ever elaborate on their statements, and everyone would have to ask very specific, long sentences to get the full truth out of people!



2ukenkerl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Age: 63
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,234

17 May 2009, 8:20 am

Tahitiii wrote:
"Damn your getting fat honey" is pointless. You don't need to lie, you can just keep your mouth shut. One can be civil without lying.


WOW, I had to double check your profile. It says you are female! Are you lying, really that naive, or just don't see it? When I REALLY tried to ALWAYS say the truth, even my MOTHER would ask questions to elicit such answers. People use it in movies and series ALL THE TIME for comedic effect. Women will generally NOT accept silence!

BTW Men don't generally ask such questions.

Tahitiii wrote:
One can not, on the other hand, survive in the modern "economy" without
being involved in some kind of scam. Very few people have real jobs these days.


MAN, the Credit bureaus LIE about many, and certainly ME! Credit card companies LIE, BANKS lie, etc.... My father told me of how he basically used the truth to imply something that was a nasty LIE! The ODD thing is that the other company may have lied(giving him his truth), to keep him from copying them. They may also have simply included the missing part in another component, etc... WHO KNOWS. I have heard stories about 6 of the biggest software companies. I won't name them, but you can probably guess at least 2! The others tend to be soo large that few average people know of them. They have lied ALL OVER! And many call centers lie when they say their first word! It is just so endemic. So what are the lies for?

1. Buiild a need that they can't fill and/or that is 100% manufactured.
2. Claim that they can do something they can't.
3. Claim they will do something(like pay bills) when they have no intention to do so.
4. Fill in unknown answers.
5. Avoid questions.
6. To claim they are who/what they are not.
7. Claim they can detect lies!
8. etc....

As for "animals" lying. Praying Mantises lie in wait, and ducks may act injured when they, and predators, are near their nests


Tahitiii wrote:
For the rest of us, the choices are: bureaucratic nonsense; glorified welfare; daycare, public schools and other programs which do more harm than good; fondling and processing other people's money; the retail industry (half of their income is from Christmas, which is another scam); legal murder & various forms of brutality; bogus employment counseling or training; pyramid schemes; and outright scams.


welfare is often caused by people LYING saying that they can't work, or people LYING and saying that they must get more money, etc.... which drives up prices and drives down REAL wages so that OTHERS may need welfare. And DON'T think that raising the minimum wage raises REAL wages. The problem is that the value is STILL going down, and raising the wage raises costs which cascades, and raises prices. Public schools AGAIN have a LOT of lies supporting them.

If they truths were told, we could all but get rid of teachers, and costs would drop a LOT! HECK, if ALL told the truth, everyone could be homeschooled, and schools would be more like sylvan(There only to HELP the students WHEN THERE WAS A REAL NEED)! I don't even get Christmas presents anymore. I think that is mainly because I don't send them. I rarely got what I wanted, and never know what others want. My father often asks me if I know what I want, and I say "no". The greetingcard industry in itself is a nasty lie. They spread the idea of it being a long custom, and print colorful and/or complex cards with the idea that YOU will buy one so you don't look cheap or heartless.

Quote:
If everyone woke up at the same time, we would have some seriously pissed off people. We would probably skip the chaos and starvation, and proceed directly to the nuclear holocaust.

Sometimes I think that would be an improvement. It would be such a pretty planet if it weren't infested with these vile creatures.


WOW, I agree with much of that. The nuclear industry ITSELF is a lie! They IGNORED the idea of photovoltaic cells, and ABANDONED the idea of improving them. If they had SO little promise in 1970, then why are they basically using the SAME cells now on cars to try them out in races, some homes, etc.... Could it be that the Photo Voltaic Cells create NO residual income? NUCLEAR, by contrast, is business as usual.



IdahoRose
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Feb 2007
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 19,801
Location: The Gem State

17 May 2009, 4:26 pm

Tahitiii wrote:
"Damn your getting fat honey" is pointless. You don't need to lie, you can just keep your mouth shut. One can be civil without lying.

One can not, on the other hand, survive in the modern "economy" without being involved in some kind of scam. Very few people have real jobs these days.

For the rest of us, the choices are: bureaucratic nonsense; glorified welfare; daycare, public schools and other programs which do more harm than good; fondling and processing other people's money; the retail industry (half of their income is from Christmas, which is another scam); legal murder & various forms of brutality; bogus employment counseling or training; pyramid schemes; and outright scams.

If everyone woke up at the same time, we would have some seriously pissed off people. We would probably skip the chaos and starvation, and proceed directly to the nuclear holocaust.

Sometimes I think that would be an improvement. It would be such a pretty planet if it weren't infested with these vile creatures.


Wow. Cynical much? But anyway, I wanted to respond to the bolded text - That's a very exaggerated and untrue statement. I'll have you know my parents make plenty of money the old fashioned way - good and honest hard work.



gina-ghettoprincess
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Nov 2008
Age: 28
Gender: Female
Posts: 2,669
Location: The Town That Time Forgot (UK)

18 May 2009, 10:40 am

Just today in math class I was thinking this very thing, OMG!

It would be bad, I reckon, because the truth is not always good to know. If I was telling the absolute truth all the time, most people in the world would refuse to speak to me (even more than usual, anyway). Like, what about those annoying people who say, "What are you thinking about?" Then people would have to say exactly what they are thinking about at that time, which would be really risky.


_________________
'El reloj, no avanza
y yo quiero ir a verte,
La clase, no acaba
y es como un semestre"


SpongeBobRocksMao
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Oct 2008
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,774
Location: SpongeBob's Pineapple (England really!)

18 May 2009, 11:00 am

I think it could cause some problems. Some people lie to avoid hurting other's feelings, or to avoid major arguments. If everybody told the truth, then there would be good sides, but I think there would be a lot more people arguing.


_________________
Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
SpongeBobRocksMao!
Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!
SpongeBobRocksMao!


fiddlerpianist
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 30 Apr 2009
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,821
Location: The Autistic Hinterlands

18 May 2009, 11:20 am

"How are you?" "I'm fine" is a formalism, small talk, greeting, etc. It's not meant to be answered truthfully. It's meant to sort of break the ice and help people get into a conversation. It's not just that we don't want to take the time to explain how we really are; it's also that the asker isn't interested at this poiint in the conversation.

Now, if further down the line, the question comes up, "So, how are you doing?" that is meant to be answered more truthfully, especially if the asker knows that something previously has been on your mind.

Some people consider omitting the truth to be lying as well. I suppose it depends on the extent, i.e. if leaving something out about one's life amounts to deception.


_________________
"That leap of logic should have broken his legs." - Janissy


zer0netgain
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Mar 2009
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,613

18 May 2009, 11:21 am

There would also be a difference between being FORCED to tell the truth and not being able to tell a lie.

People frequently lie in situations where a simple and polite "none of your business" would be sufficient.

You can be truthful with people without having to open Al Capone's vault and march out the skeletons.