People prefer lies to the truth

I think it’s fair to say that in certain circumstances we prefer lies to the truth. For example, you won’t appreciate people telling you how bad you look if it were the case, we don’t like the truths which are pessimistic or just boring, we would rather believe a well crafted lie even when it defies reality. The reason we do this is actually very simple, it is mainly because the brain is lazy, the brain is a complex organ which has to process a lot of calculations simultaneously and the only way for it to be really efficient is for it to choose the fastest path to the solution.

Lies can’t withstand multiple levels of complexity unless the liar really puts a lot of effort into it, but the truth can be very easily become complex, that’s why the brain picks the quick lie instead of trying to figure out the complex truth. There are many scenarios like these in our daily lives, on the media, at shops, in our social circles, our family, friends and many other places. We don’t necessarily decide to lie because we are vile or trying to hurt others, very often it's just because of the simplicity of it, others times it's because we want to take advantage of the other person.

The bitter truth

Well there are some truths which aren’t good to say, you can’t just walk up to a person and say “waouh! You look ugly today”, that will just be so wrong and out of touch, nobody will appreciate such an upfront confession, thats why in society we either avoid reacting to such things or try to awkwardly make the person understand how we feel about them. The truth can be bitter sometimes, very often we just don’t want to believe it because it isn’t entertaining enough, you’d be surprised how many people in the world buy into conspiracy theories hanging by a thread as opposed to what is rationally true. It is crazy and also hilarious to see how everything somehow falls into place with conspiracy theories, but what is basic is the impossibility even when there is no proof at all to back any of these affirmations.

In other occasions the truth is just so bitter that we decide not to accept it, we prefer to live in a world of lies we create in our mind instead of having to deal with reality. I’m not here to judge whether this is the right or wrong thing to do because it can be nuanced based on the situation you find yourself, in one occasion you may need to be blunt and speak the truth however hurtful that turns out to be while in another occasion you may have to show some empathy and that will require you to bend the truth.

Hope keeps us moving

Nobody can claim to know where this life leads to, we don’t know tomorrow and what it holds for us, is it success or failure? We are clueless and to be able to keep moving we need what is known as hope. That's what gets us up every day, makes us look for food, work hard and persevere through the difficulty. The thing with hope is that, it is crowded with so much mystery, you never know all what is behind that hope, but it is enough to motivate us to keep working hard. Lies can sometimes generate hope which in turn pushes us forward. All the lies we say to ourselves to keep going forward; I will be great someday! I will be a billionaire! etc Those lies keep us motivated and pressing forward in to a future we have no clue about.

The motivation in lies

They can be looked as lies from one angle, but they can also be looked as future truths we are trying to bring into existence, regardless, those are what keep us moving forward. When you watch all those motivational speakers tell you all the things you can do, I’m pretty sure that half of those things are lies or don’t apply to you, yet if you are able to convince yourself about those things then it can push you to do greater things. I’m conflicted about recommending lies as a source of motivation for anybody, it takes a daring one to be able to go beyond his/her limits.

The truth is negative

The truth is negative sometimes and you have to learn how to deal with that, resenting the truth because its not soothing in your ears would just make life all the more difficult for you. Don’t find yourself surrounded by people who just lie to you to make you feel better, always say the truth no matter what, its better to be real for a couple of seconds than to have to pretend for the rest of your life.

Thanks for reading

• Check out my blog realjema.com