this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2026
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It seems that whenever lying is being discussed people are quick to come up with justifications for why it's okay in certain situations, the classic one being that you were served food that you didn't like but when asked said that you did.

This seems to assume that the other people in fact would have preferred the lie over the truth. So I ask: when do you yourself prefer the lie?

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[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 23 points 3 days ago (1 children)

In situations where learning the true information would only cause me worry and stress, even though I'm powerless to do anything about it. For example, let's say my sister's dog has fallen ill and I'm on holiday somewhere. I'd rather be told that everything is fine and only learn about the truth when I came back.

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Whether it's temporary or not definitely makes a huge difference.

[–] tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I think lies told in kindness are sometimes the better choice, even if forever.

Imagine you're a nurse working ER, and someone comes in on the brink of death. They're on the table basically dying and getting dragged back to life over and over for half an hour until they team call it because there's nothing they can do.

Family member arrives distraught and you have to break the bad news. You can either say they died a traumatic and agonising death, or that they went quickly and didn't feel a thing.

I know which option I think is the right one.