Studies

Studies

by Karl Bode




Lying Is So Much Easier On The Conscience When You Don't Have To Look At Anyone

from the you-look-fat-in-that-dress dept

A new UK study suggests that technology not only makes lying easier, it allows liars to feel less guilty about doing it. More than four out of five people say they tell "little white lies" at least once a day, most preferring to do so via cell phone, text message or e-mail. Older studies proclaimed that people loved to lie over the phone, but weren't so keen on lying via e-mail (partially because people don't want a record of the lie). Obviously the lies being told are the same ones we've been telling for hundreds of years (I'm too sick to come to work, you look fine in that outfit, etc.) -- technology simply acts as an emotional firewall, allowing us to lie without having to look someone in the eye. Some think that's partially why videophones have never taken off, despite videophone technology that employs fake backgrounds to match the lie being told. Perhaps someday we can skip the whole messy affair and just have our sentient robot overlords lie for us.

19 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 
 

Reader Comments (rss)

(Flattened / Threaded)

  1. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 4:38pm

    patents

    by charlie potatoes

    i hold the patent for sentient overlord robots. if you want one to lie for you then you must pay me.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 4:43pm

    no tells on the cell

    by William

    I can't be the only one who can usually tell when people lie to me. Sometime I wont realise it till hours after a conversation but i can usually tell. I just think it's easy to lie convincingly on the phone verses in person.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 4:44pm

    sore

    by sore

    i have herpes. this girl i picked up at the club lied to me and said she was clean. so much for that...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 5:22pm
    by Anonymous Coward

    #3 - Perhaps there are reasons for waiting until Marriage?

    Wow - My parents were right. Go figure.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 5:23pm

    #3

    by Mike

    #3 - Perhaps you should repsect yourself more.

    Wow - My parents were right. Go figure.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  6. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 6:07pm

    that's the truth

    by My name is Joe

    Everybody lies all the time, even without realizing it. If we didn't lie, we'd probably implode.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  7. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 6:33pm
    by Tin Ear

    I do not!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  8. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 7:23pm

    Re:

    by Anonymous Coward

    #7
    LIAR!!!!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  9. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 7:29pm
    by Anonymous Coward

    ^^^^
    liar

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  10. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 7:47pm

    lies

    by Kirk

    Everything Harry tells you is a lie. Remember that! Everything Harry tells you is a lie!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  11. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 7:48pm

    statistics

    by Mudd

    Now listen to me carefully, Norman laddie. I am lying!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  12. Dec 28th, 2006 @ 10:23pm

    Truth

    by Jeff

    Its very possible that everything that we believe to be true is in fact a lie..so everyone who has ever told you anything may be lying without realizing it!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  13. Dec 29th, 2006 @ 12:53pm

    I am lying to you right now -->

    by Chronno S. Trigger

    and somehow I don't feel that bad.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  14. Apr 9th, 2007 @ 4:37am
    by Ifan Hung

    0h man itz s0 t0talli true

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  15. Oct 2nd, 2007 @ 12:49pm

    Re:

    by Ni hao ma?

    Hi ifan - was ich möchte kannst du dir sicherlich denken...ich möcht bitte mit Agnes sprechen - meine Emai + MSN ist Hou-Hai-Lake@hotmail.de
    88 Olli

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  16. Oct 15th, 2007 @ 7:26am

    Re:

    by oliver niemeyer

    Ifan verstehst du denn nicht - ich werde keine ruhe geben bis ich sie gesprochen habe - klar ....
    mach es doch einfach kurz und gib mir ihre email - fertig - hehehe .

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  17. Feb 27th, 2008 @ 11:11pm

    Re:

    by Beifangren

    hehehehe - why u do not answer Agnes? My new Mobil is :
    00491769644038 my new Adress is - Am Kirchberg 3
    35415 Hausen

    so pls answer me soon !!! We can change a lot of news ....hehehe kisss and miss u 88 Olli

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  18. Sep 16th, 2008 @ 2:57am

    Re:

    by BEIFANGREN05

    Hi I Fan - i found u ...i think we c us soon - i never will forget !!

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  19. Dec 27th, 2008 @ 4:40pm
    by Mark

    I hat people that don't tell people stuff face to face or not at all. This one girl gave me herpes and had no herpes symptoms she never bothered to tell me and I couldn't tell. So mean.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

Add Your Comment

Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie
  • Plain Text: A CRLF will be replaced by break <br> tag, all other allowable HTML is intact
  • HTML: No formatting of any kind is done without explicitly being written in
  • Allowed HTML Tags: <b> <i> <p> <a> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <hr> <tt>
Close
Have a Techdirt Account? Sign in now. Want one? Register here
Get Techdirt’s Daily Email
Plain Text HTML Save me a cookie

Search Techdirt
And now, a word from our Sponsors..



Subscribe to Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Techdirt's Daily Email Newsletter

Related Stories
Close
E-mail It