Lies

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mooks

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Does the omission of truth constitute a lie?

Personally I say yes and I'm guessing (hoping) that the 'yes' replies to this question will be overwhelming to the point of making the question redundant, but the debate rages this side IRL in the meanwhile.

The floor is open......
 
If your friend asks you if they're fat and you say nothing but start talking about that cute new Toyota, are you lying?
 
It's all relative and situational.
"Your face looks like an island, floating in a sea of flab..." will hurt, so you withhold the truth.
I banged your sister/brother is a different story.
 
EDIT : Damn.. It is a lie. Intentionally not mentioning something for your own benefit is a lie.
 
Her: How was your day today? What did you get up to?
Him: It was good, nothing exciting happened.

Now he may have slept with the secretary for all she knows. But she didn't ask him that. So technically he didn't lie :p.
 
But the question is, is the omission a lie because he know if he tells her "hey I humped the secretary" she'll kick him to the curb.. Same as if she had asked him directly and he intentionally said "It was good, nothing exciting happened.". It's a lie, me thinks.

Intention for determines if it's a lie and omitting something specific is a lie.
 
The_Unnamed said:
Her: How was your day today? What did you get up to?
Him: It was good, nothing exciting happened.

Now he may have slept with the secretary for all she knows. But she didn't ask him that. So technically he didn't lie :p.
Click to expand...

Technically she did ask what he got up to, he never answered.
 
for me its a 50/50:

if you are asked out right and deny then its lying, however if you went out with the boys to the pub and then to teazers, and wife asks the following day did you go out with the boys to the pub and you say yes but dont tell her you went there, your not lying, but if she asks did you go anywhere after that and you dont tell her, then yea your lying. so for me it all depends on the question.
 
[video=youtube;8nvuEw9XcuU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nvuEw9XcuU[/video]
 
magicquin said:
for me its a 50/50:

if you are asked out right and deny then its lying, however if you went out with the boys to the pub and then to teazers, and wife asks the following day did you go out with the boys to the pub and you say yes but dont tell her you went there, your not lying, but if she asks did you go anywhere after that and you dont tell her, then yea your lying. so for me it all depends on the question.
Click to expand...

That IS a lie. Of course it is a lie. You are purposefully withholding information from somebody for your own benefit. Would you say in the above example that you had been 100% honest with your wife?

Personally I am not a jealous person but it is damn easy to see why so many people (men & women alike) are eaten up by suspicions and paranoia and doubts. If you cant be honest with your SO's about the most BASIC elements (e.g. that you like to go to teazers in your spare time), then wtf are you doing together? If your SO doesnt agree/like/support your choices it is then THEIR prerogative to choose how they want to deal with the situation.

People always rip apart overbearing gf's and jealous bf's but the fact is that one is expected to, not only imagine every possible situation, but also interrogate your loved ones in order to get a complete & clear view of the status quo . Because otherwise, it 'isnt a lie'?

For the majority of you who take the approach that omission is NOT a lie, how do you react when you get home from a bar and your SO says: "did you have fun, who was there, what did you guys/gals do, where did you go, did you go elsewhere afterwards, when did you leave, was <insert neighbourhood bicycle name here> also at the pub, did you kiss her/him etc etc" ? You would freak and say 'this is not the Spanish inquisition' and yet simultaneously, if SO doesnt ask I guess you dont tell?

I find that fundamentally dishonest.
 
Ai just tell people what concerns them anything else is classified.
 
i guess it's a lie when it's relevant. if you are asked and you don't answer directly, that can be seen as lying, but say you broke your wives vase, and do not tell her, and weeks go by and she doesn't notice, is that a lie? technically you haven't had anything to lie about yet, but it is kind of omission
 
Neck_Monster said:
i guess it's a lie when it's relevant. if you are asked and you don't answer directly, that can be seen as lying, but say you broke your wives vase, and do not tell her, and weeks go by and she doesn't notice, is that a lie? technically you haven't had anything to lie about yet, but it is kind of omission
Click to expand...

But that is surely more about whether the IMPACT of your omission is high or low and not whether it is a lie or not? Fact remains, you are still consciously choosing to not be honest with your wife. In this instance it is (almost) irrelevant because its without emotional impact, but that doesnt mean it is any less dishonest then withholding the fact that you lost your joint savings in a poker game. It's just more acceptable because no one got hurt (except the poor vase :cry:).
 
I agree with you. mooks. I think that withholding the truth is undeniably a lie. That doesn't mean it's not necessary to lie sometimes.

Had I been married, I wouldn't tell the wife that I wanted to kick her mother's face in at her family gathering because she was being a b*tch. Some things are better kept to yourself. I agree about the Teazers thing, though. If you enjoy a bit of alternative visual stimulation at time, your SO needs to be aware of it so she can decide if she's ok with it.
 
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