The Experience of Human Communication by Macke Frank J.;

Author:Macke, Frank J.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Existential Strategy of the Lie and the Experience of Adolescent Development

Lying is frequently advantageous in specific instances; simply, that’s why people do it and it is why they will, inevitably, continue doing it. Strategically and pragmatically (that is, leaving all matters of shame and virtue aside), lying is a conscious resistance to certain versions of systemic transformation. For the Self (at any age), it is a selective invocation of negentropy. When in common discourse a person claims, “I won’t go there,” or “don’t go there,” he or she is indicating that there are things that can be told that will, nevertheless, not be told. Such a choice invokes a strategy to restrict the flow of information. A person lies because the perceived consequences of speaking honestly are worse than they would be to mislead or deceive. To speak honestly in such an instance—that is, to authentically articulate one’s primary thoughts, feelings, and/or images on a given matter—would require that the person address an experience he or she is not psychologically ready to address. It may be said that lying in such an instance is to preserve an aspect of psychological homeostasis. A fully “honest,” fully confessed expression would signal a loss of personal control over one’s perception of identity. For example, were I to tell the truth about why I am not showing up for work on a given day my colleagues and my boss might think less of me, particularly if I am taking the day off to sleep in, rest my hangover, and spend some money at the local casino. The weekend simply was not long enough, I might tell myself, fully convinced that I am entitled to spend this day as I please. Yet, however well I can convince myself of this “truth” I am also of the belief that it would be unpersuasive to the principal parties to whom it might be spoken.

So, the lie I use as a cover for my Self signifies a threshold of guilt. I use the word “cover” because it is of a piece with everyday discourse. But instead of the word “cover” perhaps the concept might better be served, at least for the moment, by the word “exterior.” The exterior, in the case of the intentional deception, is a narrative mask, a disguise of both character and plot. The lie protects my secret. My secret is my business, I tell myself, and I know I am not the first and certainly will not be the last person to keep a secret. Like a spy operating in hostile territory, I must be doubly careful to keep my story and identity straight. I cannot say or do anything that I might impulsively want inasmuch as I have made a commitment to protect an ego identity that binds me to a particular narrative version of a relational order. When as a teenager I was asked by my parents if I smoked pot (or even cigarettes), I typically replied: “No, I would never do those things.

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