Top Three Interconnected Reasons Why People Lie

Everybody lies. People know that lying is wrong, but they still do it. They are the source of an unimaginable amount of mistrust and conflict. The consequences of being caught are often irreversible. They complicate the world without adding anything of value to it. Despite all these factors, people lie. The benefits of lying must seem extremely tantalizing in order for somebody to risk trying it. There are three interconnected reasons people lie: To escape consequences, to appear better, and to keep previous lies from being discovered.
The desire to escape consequences is likely the most impulsive reason to lie. When somebody says, “Did you do this?” in an angry tone, the instinctive reaction for the majority of people is to say “no,” regardless of any other factors. At the time, it may seem like a logical action: people often overestimate the strength of their lies, which makes the possibility of escaping any punishment seem nearly certain. Additionally, a popular school of thought that taking risks for major wins is better than accepting an insignificant loss. These factors combine to make lying a common impulsive decision.
The second reason people lie is to …show more content…
An inconsistency between two statements by the same person is far easier to notice than a single lie. A liar must continue to fool every person they come across in order for their statements to appear consistent; otherwise, they are likely to be discovered. Unfortunately, such a web of deception will inevitably collapse as it grows larger and larger. As Mark Twain said, “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” A single inconsistency between any two statements can unravel the entire network of falsehoods. As the lies mount, the number of such connections the liar must keep track of grows exponentially — if it goes on long enough, it becomes more than any human could