Can you lie?

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I have never been able to lie to anyone about anything. I think it is one of the reasons Im shy and withdrawn. It makes me fascinated too with criminals of all kinds... how do they ... exist to themselves.

I knew a man who lied, and embellished, and cheated, just about everyone he ever met. He had a great memory for names and shared experiences, and his cheated "friends" just kept welcoming him back. He was like the archetype glutton. He wanted to consume EVERYTHING... to OWN it. He was also a Lothario, and slew the ladies like... well, like no one I ever knew. He is now living the high life. Rich and famous, and a socialite.

Wow, that's crazy. Yes I can lie, though I don't like to.

Not well at all, and I find the concept futile.
Plus, the more you lie, the more you have to lie to cover up those lies. And you have to have a good memory, so as not to contradict yourself frequently. Too much work. Why not tell the truth?
I tried a few times when I was a small child, as many small children do, and got caught every time, feeling very badly after. It's a terrible, terrible feeling.

However, I do know someone who claims to 'have' AS (my age), and he lies obsessively, almost to the point of me (and everyone else who knows him) assuming that the next sentence that passes between his lips will be untruthful... and usually being correct. It's so irksome.

I can lie without any moral quandry. I choose not to most of the time, but it is easier for me to lie and curve peoples perceptions.

Same here. I can lie, and due to my very good memory I don't get caught most of the time but I don't like it and will avoid it if I can.
I would lie though to avoid long explanations (so as to reduce interaction) or to avoid the risk of the other person getting the truth wrong.
When I think about it sometimes though I realise that my perception of the world and moral as a whole is rather distorted and maybe I should bother less about people getting what I tell them wrong.

I can lie occassionally but I get very anxious.

Not very well, and I worry I'll get caught, so I prefer not to...

I don't like lying and have been told I am a terrible liar (although in some contexts apparently I am a very skilled liar, but those all involve roleplaying a particular character in a roleplaying game, and somehow this doesn't translate to my day to day life). When people ask me personal questions I sometimes have difficulty not answering even if I feel the answer is none of their business.

I could never lie when I was younger, but I trained myself to in junior high by sort of convincing myself to believe the lie myself before I told it, and then I was lying all the time about everything, and people rarely suspected me. I stopped a few years ago though, and now for some reason I find it impossible, even when I probably shouldn't tell the truth about some things.

I'm not a good liar. My mom and stepdad always knew I'd tell them the truth and they were right. I can be quite secretive though and keep things to myself. If asked about them I'll tell, but it's usually so tucked away no one even knows I know something.

Very badly.

I will have to lie and say no, but I usually avoid it and let people deal with the truth, even if its the harder way.

I went from not being able to tell a lie at all to being able to fool the guy at the door of a strip club into thinking I was 21 when I wasn't, and convincing them not to check my ID. The secret to lying is to say less, and to believe every word you say. The more you say, the more the other person has to think, and a thinking person is a liar's worst enemy. So naturally, having idiot parents helped me to figure out the most effective way to lie...which is to tell the truth most of the time, so that way they never suspect me of lying.

I've met some people that can jump from one lie to the next to the next, and then I learned how to do that...and got a lesson in self-deception that is actually very useful. Dangerous, but useful.

I was thinking the same thing. My first thought was to respond that I don't lie well, but I'm very good at not telling...

It's so hard for me to lie (tell the opposite of the truth) but I can make stuff up. There is a difference.

I lie a lot to my parents about my opinions and some interests. I am somehow very afraid of their reactions. It is one of my problems, I can't even bear to have books lying around out of fear of them judging me because of the book I'm reading. I always hide everything. Same with things like posters and such, my room has always been plain and devoid of decorations because I'm afraid they'll judge me for my choices. And they're not even judgemental people. Go figure. Think it might stem from a childhood friend of mine always going through my stuff and judging me when finding drawings etc. that she deemed inappropriate or childish.

So yes, I can lie.

Last edited by Luci on 13 Jan 2011, 8:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.