I found that lying is no more intrinsically bad than truth telling is intrinsically good. Both truth and lies commonly enable terrible harms.
Like pretty much everything, it depends. Consideration is a much better policy than honesty.
> lying is bad, especially when done for profit.
This so often ends up in a bad place that I'll likely flag it as problematic - even before I have complete information. But that's because of reality & history, not an arbitrary rule.
> Some people don't like lying about what they are doing, even if they can't get caught.
Unfortunately, some people do like lying, or at least they don't mind it as much, and if you create a system which rewards liars more than honest people, you shouldn't be surprised if the liars end up winning and you create more liars.
I can see why you would think this. Lying successfully ultimately takes more work than being honest. Being honest is like swinging a golf club or tennis racket correctly. It feels awkward and unnatural at first, but eventually gets easier. Honesty definitely is a skill, though.
> Who really wants to live in a world where it’s so much easier and effective to lie than to tell the truth?
I don't think anyone wants that, but this has been the case since the invention of the printing press and probably longer. It also gets really tricky when what is a lie vs. what is truth is not obvious.
> Every fossil fuel company is going to lie their pants off because that's what you and all other humans would do if they got into the same situation.
Speak for yourself.
1. A good number of people actually have a spine. I'd not say the majority "is good && have a spine" but enough that you are lying.
2. It doesn't help at all to spread the lie that everyone else lying.
Speaking as someone who has been embarassingly honest, and who also admires his friend who came back and admitted he'd been laughing at me behind my back.
Everybody lies. The most successful liars are the ones who can hoodwink themselves - if you can convince yourself that you don't lie, you have carte blanche to foist off any other bullshit you can dream up on anyone gullible enough to swallow it. As a corollary, one should direct most of one's suspicion at the conspicuously honest...
People do that all the time, and for a very good reason. Life in a society where everyone only speaks truth would be impossible (which is why, for instance, atheism is not very popular).
Lots of lies are perfectly sustainable, but I have a feeling they tend to be the flattering lies (to someone).
We only hire the best.
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