THANKS to my parents and the nuns in girls’ schools, I grew up believing that truthfulness says much about a man.
If we sibs misbehaved, we had to tell the truth, or we’d feel the hard end of our parents’ stick. The nuns reinforced the lessons at home, stressing that “truth is doubtful in the lips of a liar.”
But times have changed. Law professors teach their students to defend clients to the best of their ability, “by hook or by crook.” Even the “abogado de campanilla” saves some tricks up his sleeve, to save his client from jail.
So, over dinner or beer at day’s end, lawyers brag about how the judge was hoodwinked. Winning, ah…by crook than by hook.
Even today, marketing professionals are reminded about “Truth in Advertising.” Once, there was this tv commercial about a soap brand. It showed a dry leaf which, upon getting a drop of oil, immediately looked freshly green.
While this ad was later modified, still the message subliminally delivered was that in the practice of law or sales, the end justifies the means; ergo, fibbing is allowable.
Now in this age of Social Media, churning and spinning of lies have become a daily occurrence. Trolls now abound to create fake news, whether to glorify their subject or ridicule the opponent.
And while this practice is contemptible per se, it’s worse when the creator of the fake news holds the highest position in the land, a position which all citizens expect honesty from. Not getting that, the people feel betrayed.
One, thus, understands the frustration of media outfits like CNN when reporting on its president, Donald Trump. Or the disgust of some political commentators and analysts it invites to discussions.
Unless CNN edited its photos to minimize the size of the people attending his inauguration, it was clear that Trump lied by saying the crowd was the biggest so far for any inauguration of a U.S. President.
Again he lied that the wall he promised to build at the U.S.-Mexico border is now up. News sources said the structure was not even a wall, but a fence that a child could easily climb over. Also, that contractors usually put it up to protect their materials and equipment.
Observers have defined Trump’s pattern. When he is caught peddling one lie, he distracts attention by flitting to another lie. But why lie when soon it will be unmasked?
The Daw Lab at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute looked into what causes dishonesty, and came up with emotional adaptation as a principle for how the brain works.
For instance, one will have a strong emotional response to a photo showing a mutilated body. After seeing the photo again and again, however, the brain adapts, the neurons quiet down, and one’s emotional reaction will not be as strong again.
So it is with dishonesty, the research states. The first time one cheats on his taxes (oops! Has Trump shown his tax reports yet?), he will feel bad about it. But the next time, he has adapted, there is less negative reaction, and soon the lies get larger and larger.