On Lying
The different ways to lie,
for there are more than one…
People think that a lie is simply saying an untruth.
Usually about the past.
Like did so and so happen?
Yes! - in reply, when it in fact did not.
Lies can be dangerous, but we don’t need to get into the “results” of lying.
We simply need to discuss what is lying.
A lie can also be about the future,
‘Do you plan on doing this?’
Yes! - when in fact they do not.
Temporally, all lies actually occur in the present. Even if a lie concerns the past, you are ‘lying’ or saying an untruth about what you know now considering something that occur-ed.
Something that will Be in the Future, can also be misconstrued, by stating something will happen that you most definitely know will not - ex a concert date set at the wrong time. You are ‘misrepresenting’ a feeling or Knowledge that you currently have in the Present about the Future.
These are all examples of incongruence.
When something takes the shape of something it is not.
Usually, this is done either to protect or to attack.
In the animal kingdom, this type of behavior is confusing, and dangerous.
Now with humans, they can not only have incongruence in their speech with their feeling, or internal dialog, or internal belief system…
They can have an entire different Personality and Being that is ‘Living the Lie’.
Imagine a High School student speaking in a way that is unnatural to himself. This is a lie. He is embodying a lie. Again, an incongruence but not in speech, but in Shape or Being.
In the animal kingdom, this would be a Male fish acting Female to thwart the other Male fish and Females into believing he is harmless - when in fact he is not.
In general, incongruence is seen as a negative by society.
But the ends sometimes can justify the means. Just depending who they impact. In game theory, this would be a gain for one Entity (single person or group) against the other.
As the old adage goes ‘all is fair in love and war’.
In my view, the only incongruence that is always dangerous, is the lie against the Self. If you are to lie, at least be aware that you are lying. Simply lying, and pretending as if you did not know what you were doing, is not only a cop out, but an absolute disillusionment with reality, to such an extent that you might as well be considered insane or delusional.
If you are to lie, be aware of you incongruence. And to what end you are doing so. If it is to protect someone, or yourself, when all other means have been exhausted, this is Ethical. What is important here is Awareness of the Internal Truth with the External Lie.
In effect, Awareness actually removes the lie. You are not incongruent with the internal state. Since your awareness of the External actually matches the Internal Awareness!
“I am behaving in exact accordance with my internal awareness of the external Incongruence / Discord that I willingly created, having weighed the consequences of the Action.” - Shayan Arman, November 11th, 2025