The Earth is Flat - Casper Stith

  Lie to Me

“History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon.” - Napoleon Bonaparte

Lies permeate our lives; so prevalent that we often take them for granted.

A 2014 article on telegraph.co.uk titled ‘Lies have become an accepted part of

British life, poll reveals’, provides insight into their prevalence: The average

Briton tells more than 10 lies a week, with two fifths claiming fibs are

''sometimes necessary'', research has found.

Almost all Britons (91%) have told a lie at some point in their lives, with a

quarter (25%) saying they will ''happily'' tell a fib if they think it will not hurt

anyone, the survey for confused.com found.

The space between ‘white lies’ and outright deception is a slippery slope.

From an early age, children are taught that Santa Claus is real. We are told that

Santa watches over us, determines how ‘naughty or nice’ we’ve been, and

delivers gifts accordingly.

We are showered with lies before we have the capacity to think for

ourselves.

Parents will often go to great lengths, and concoct elaborate stories, to maintain

the tradition.

Passing from parents to children, the tradition of deception continues unabated.

The tradition of deception, sometimes referred to as ‘the noble lie’, is deeply

embedded in our culture.

We eventually learn that Santa isn’t real, while much larger lies persist.