Lying

An essay from Sam’s hyper-rational perspective. A quick read with a lot of potential ROI.

Definitely the shortest book I will read this year. A very practical look at lying. I like the way Harris handled outlier cases like war and espionage. My favorite point was how lying enables things like addiction and other destructive behaviors. Being honest with others forces us to be honest with ourselves, and leads to being a better person.

Short, but in a good way ;-) short enough to read again and again. Until you come to terms with your lying.

Fabulous different viewpoints on the ethics and morality of lying as well as showing you by example how lying actually hinders you from growing and advancing as a person in life. Very easy and short read. Gave you lots to think about.

Simple and succinct. We lie every day. Most of us have heard the majority of the arguments made in this book, but this one really hit home for me:

In fact, suspicion often grows on both sides of a lie: Research indicates that liars trust those they deceive less than they otherwise might—and the more damaging their lies, the less they trust, or even like, their victims. It seems that in protecting their egos, and interpreting their own behavior as justified, liars tend to deprecate the people they lie to. - Page 39

(This book has a Digital Honor Code. It is copyrighted, but you are free to distribute it to others. If you receive your version for free, purchase one copy before passing it on.) Let me know if you'd like a copy.

Unexpectedly dogmatic, but thought-provokingly so. Lying and hypocrisy are pet peeves of mine to which I've devoted much attention over the course of my life, so as you might expect I am entirely in Harris's camp. I just can't rite as good as he does. So please, read this booklet. It's short. It's cheap. It's important.