A third kind of lie {DW#293)
When people are asked to speak the truth under oath, it goes like this:
Do you swear to tell the truth (that is no lies of commission, saying exactly what happened)?
The whole truth (that is no lies of omission, leaving no major fact unspoken)?
And then there is a third statement "And nothing but the truth?", which may be less easy to understand.
Psychologists explain that this sentence is used to counteract what is called a character lie or a lie of influence.
In other words, sometimes people say something completely unrelated to the truth to cover up a lie. These lies are meant to make you believe the person who is lying or to make the person seem like such a great person that they are unlikely to be suspected of lying.
For example, suppose a person at your workplace is suspected of taking money from the cash registers. And it is your (most unpleasant) job to find out who it is. You interview one of the clerks and ask him if he took the money. He does not answer your question and says instead: "How can you suspect me of such a thing? That really hurts my feelings that you don’t trust me. I have worked here for almost 20 years".
This is a typical character lie. Notice how he has not answered the question and instead diverted the conversation to try and make it seem highly unlikely that he took the money.
The takeaway for ourselves is of course that we remain vigilant ourselves in speaking "nothing but the truth".
Even when we are not in a court of law or under oath.
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