The Varnished Truth

The Varnished Truth PDF Author: David Nyberg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226610528
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Everyone says that lying is wrong. But when we say that lying is bad and hurtful and that we would never intentionally tell a lie, are we really deceiving anyone? In this wise and insightful book, David Nyberg exposes the tacit truth underneath our collective pretense and reveals that an occasional lie can be helpful, healthy, creative, and, in some situations, even downright moral. Through familiar and often entertaining examples, Nyberg explores the purposes deception serves, from the social kindness of the white lie to the political ends of diplomacy to the avoidance of pain or unpleasantness. He looks at the lies we tell ourselves as well, and contrary to the scolding of psychologists demonstrates that self-deception is a necessary function of mental health, one of the mind's many weapons against stress, uncertainty, and chaos. Deception is in our nature, Nyberg tells us. In civilization, just as in the wilderness, survival does not favor the fully exposed or conspicuously transparent self. As our minds have evolved, as practical intelligence has become more refined, as we have learned the subtleties of substituting words and symbols for weapons and violence, deception has come to play a central and complex role in social life. The Varnished Truth takes us beyond philosophical speculation and clinical analysis to give a sense of what it really means to tell the truth. As Nyberg lays out the complexities involved in leading a morally decent life, he compels us to see the spectrum of alternatives to telling the truth and telling a clear-cut lie. A life without self-deception would be intolerable and a world of unconditional truth telling unlivable. His argument that deception and self-deception are valuable to both social stability and individual mental health boldly challenges popular theories on deception, including those held by Sissela Bok and Daniel Goleman. Yet while Nyberg argues that we deceive, among other reasons, so that we might not perish of the truth, he also cautions that we deceive carelessly, thoughtlessly, inhumanely, and selfishly at our own peril.

The Varnished Truth

The Varnished Truth PDF Author: David Nyberg
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226610528
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Get Book Here

Book Description
Everyone says that lying is wrong. But when we say that lying is bad and hurtful and that we would never intentionally tell a lie, are we really deceiving anyone? In this wise and insightful book, David Nyberg exposes the tacit truth underneath our collective pretense and reveals that an occasional lie can be helpful, healthy, creative, and, in some situations, even downright moral. Through familiar and often entertaining examples, Nyberg explores the purposes deception serves, from the social kindness of the white lie to the political ends of diplomacy to the avoidance of pain or unpleasantness. He looks at the lies we tell ourselves as well, and contrary to the scolding of psychologists demonstrates that self-deception is a necessary function of mental health, one of the mind's many weapons against stress, uncertainty, and chaos. Deception is in our nature, Nyberg tells us. In civilization, just as in the wilderness, survival does not favor the fully exposed or conspicuously transparent self. As our minds have evolved, as practical intelligence has become more refined, as we have learned the subtleties of substituting words and symbols for weapons and violence, deception has come to play a central and complex role in social life. The Varnished Truth takes us beyond philosophical speculation and clinical analysis to give a sense of what it really means to tell the truth. As Nyberg lays out the complexities involved in leading a morally decent life, he compels us to see the spectrum of alternatives to telling the truth and telling a clear-cut lie. A life without self-deception would be intolerable and a world of unconditional truth telling unlivable. His argument that deception and self-deception are valuable to both social stability and individual mental health boldly challenges popular theories on deception, including those held by Sissela Bok and Daniel Goleman. Yet while Nyberg argues that we deceive, among other reasons, so that we might not perish of the truth, he also cautions that we deceive carelessly, thoughtlessly, inhumanely, and selfishly at our own peril.

The Varnished Untruth

The Varnished Untruth PDF Author: Pamela Stephenson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1849839247
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Along with my own personal story, I am going to write down a few things that may amuse you (or even take you down some other emotional path) and I'll let you in on a few so-far-unrevealed aspects of my life. I'll try to leave out the boring bits. Don't be thinking this is easy for me. I'm darn good at getting under other people's skin, but opening up about my own life is quite a different matter. So how shall I portray myself? There are choices, you know: Wife, mother, psychologist, writer, comedian, actor, dancer, diver, gypsy, dreamer, rich girl, poor girl, beggar girl, thief. I am all of those and more. Tell you what, you decide. You decide exactly what I am… A complicated childhood in Australia, a bold move to London, being a woman in a man's world on Not the Nine O'Clock News, becoming Mrs Billy Connolly, motherhood, career changes and then Strictly Come Dancing - told in her own inimitable style, The Varnished Untruthis Pamela Stephenson's own story.

The Devil Wins

The Devil Wins PDF Author: Dallas G. Denery
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691173753
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
A bold retelling of the history of lying in medieval and early modern Europe Is it ever acceptable to lie? This question plays a surprisingly important role in the story of Europe's transition from medieval to modern society. According to many historians, Europe became modern when Europeans began to lie—that is, when they began to argue that it is sometimes acceptable to lie. This popular account offers a clear trajectory of historical progression from a medieval world of faith, in which every lie is sinful, to a more worldly early modern society in which lying becomes a permissible strategy for self-defense and self-advancement. Unfortunately, this story is wrong. For medieval and early modern Christians, the problem of the lie was the problem of human existence itself. To ask "Is it ever acceptable to lie?" was to ask how we, as sinners, should live in a fallen world. As it turns out, the answer to that question depended on who did the asking. The Devil Wins uncovers the complicated history of lying from the early days of the Catholic Church to the Enlightenment, revealing the diversity of attitudes about lying by considering the question from the perspectives of five representative voices—the Devil, God, theologians, courtiers, and women. Examining works by Augustine, Bonaventure, Martin Luther, Madeleine de Scudéry, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and a host of others, Dallas G. Denery II shows how the lie, long thought to be the source of worldly corruption, eventually became the very basis of social cohesion and peace.

The Death Of Discourse

The Death Of Discourse PDF Author: Ronald K L Collins
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000243893
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
In this innovative book, the authors persuasively argue that the First Amendment to the Constitution has risen in the late twentieth century, like an ill guided individual with knife in hand, to murder a longstanding tradition of fine and meaningful discourse in the United States. We are bombarded with the cacophony of advertisement, the luridity of pornography, and the pointlessness of prime timepoor substitutes for intelligent consideration of ideas. }In this innovative book, the authors persuasively argue that the First Amendment to the Constitution has risen in the late twentieth century, like an ill-guided individual with knife in hand, to murder a long-standing tradition of fine and meaningful discourse in the United States. What has died is the essential kind of political discourse which promotes democracy; informs citizens; enlivens debate; and carries reason, method, and purpose. Instead, we are bombarded with the cacophony of advertisement, the luridity of pornography, and the pointlessness of prime time.With satirical spirit and wityet to a very serious purpose the narrative of this lively study calls upon many of the very tricks it criticizes. The text is augmented by amusing tales, poetry, tv zaps, eyebites, and boxes of aphorisms resonating between high and low culture, between Plato and Geraldo and Madonna and Mahler to make its points, the discussion reveals how discourse in contemporary America has lost its integrity and its soul.

The Language of Deception

The Language of Deception PDF Author: Dariusz Galasinski
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1452262101
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
Author Dariusz Galasinski employs a discourse analytical approach to the study of deception in The Language of Deception. The book focuses on the deceptive messages themselves -- how language is used to deceive others and what kinds of linguistic devices are used. Galasinski develops a theory of deception based on his extensive study of debates and interviews of American and British politicians. Actual exchanges such as the one in which a politician is asked the same question 14 times and evades it 14 times, provide fascinating insight into deceptive linguistic practices.

Shadow Class

Shadow Class PDF Author: Liam Young
Publisher: Liam W H Young
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Seventy percent of the planet is in ruin, scorched beyond repair, decimated by successive global conflicts that resulted in a century of hell for its inhabitants. Those who survived live their lives secure within colossal cities constructed from concrete, glass and steel – humanity’s final bastions against the apocalypse. Yet behind the utopian veil of salvation, humanity – having learned nothing from its past mistakes – continues to erode itself, now targeting those eking out a meagre existence on the bottom rung of the social ladder: the Shadow Class. Orphaned at a young age, Callum – a member of the Shadow Class – attempts to play the poor hand that life in the metropolis has dealt him, trying his best to navigate the hardships that relentlessly prey upon him whilst fighting a system that seeks to oppress his kind. Whether he is bouncing between children’s homes, dealing with life on the streets or entanglements with gangs and Peacekeeper patrols, Callum is only ever one step away from the edge of the precipice. Despite his bleak outlook, Callum still clings to hope, in the form of a young woman named Kaitlin. Can she be the light that guides him from the shadows, or will she join Callum and become consumed by the darkness? Shadow Class brings together Callum’s previously documented escapades from The Chronicles of Freylar in chronological order, along with additional, previously untold, tales of his exploits, ushering in the beginning of the series’ dystopian arc: Class Wars.

Qualitative Inquiry and the Politics of Advocacy

Qualitative Inquiry and the Politics of Advocacy PDF Author: Norman K Denzin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1315421445
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The plenary volume from the Seventh International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (2011) examines the politics of advocacy and the context in which scholars are encouraged to pursue social justice agendas, be human rights advocates, and do work that honors the core values of human dignity and freedom from fear and violence. Contributions from many of the world's leading qualitative researchers in communications, education, sociology, and related disciplines address topics including community research, transformative education, and researcher ethics, and guide the field toward an engaged, activist research agenda.

The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars

The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars PDF Author: Lixing Sun
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691198608
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
A natural history of cheating from selfish genes to lying politicians Nature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity. Blending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples—from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals—Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty. Brimming with insight and humor, The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality and laying down a blueprint for combatting malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.

Dead Sexy

Dead Sexy PDF Author: Kathy Lette
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1035901889
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Why do men like intelligent women? Because opposites attract. Kit Kincade, American, with diamond-studded ears and friends in low places, believes women are little more than a life support system to an ovary. Shelly Green, pinstripe-underpanted, cultured, classical guitarist, thinks optimism is an eye disease and hates all men. The perfect pair? Yes, according to a 'Desperate and Dateless' reality TV competition. A computer has matched them – physically and emotionally – with huge financial rewards if they can survive their five-star honeymoon on a paradise island. Kit and Shelly meet the day they are to be married... and it's hate at first sight. Praise for Kathy Lette: 'Fabulous, fast-paced, funny & unapologetically female. Nobody does it better.' DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE, THE GUILTY FEMINIST 'Deliciously rude and darkly funny, but with compassion and humanity at its heart. Read with relish.' NICOLE KIDMAN 'Kathy Lette can turn from raunchy farce to the most tender emotion in a trice.' STEPHEN FRY

Intimate Lies and the Law

Intimate Lies and the Law PDF Author: Jill Elaine Hasday
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190905956
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Jill Elaine Hasday's Intimate Lies and the Law won the Scribes Book Award from the American Society of Legal Writers "for the best work of legal scholarship published during the previous year" and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Family and Relationships. Intimacy and deception are often entangled. People deceive to lure someone into a relationship or to keep her there, to drain an intimate's bank account or to use her to acquire government benefits, to control an intimate or to resist domination, or to capture myriad other advantages. No subject is immune from deception in dating, sex, marriage, and family life. Intimates can lie or otherwise intentionally mislead each other about anything and everything. Suppose you discover that an intimate has deceived you and inflicted severe-even life-altering-financial, physical, or emotional harm. After the initial shock and sadness, you might wonder whether the law will help you secure redress. But the legal system refuses to help most people deceived within an intimate relationship. Courts and legislatures have shielded this persistent and pervasive source of injury, routinely denying deceived intimates access to the remedies that are available for deceit in other contexts. Intimate Lies and the Law is the first book that systematically examines deception in intimate relationships and uncovers the hidden body of law governing this duplicity. Hasday argues that the law has placed too much emphasis on protecting intimate deceivers and too little importance on helping the people they deceive. The law can and should do more to recognize, prevent, and redress the injuries that intimate deception can inflict.