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The Lies that Bind - Simulations Reveal How White Lies Glue Society Together and Black Lies Disrupt

posted by n1 on Friday June 13 2014, @06:56AM   Printer-friendly
from the do-you-think-i'm-attractive? dept.

taylorvich writes:

From MIT Technology Review:

Evolutionary biologists have long thought that lying ought to destroy societies. Now computational anthropologists have shown that nothing could be further from the truth.

It's easy to see how lying reduces the level of trust between individuals and so threatens the stability of societies. So how do societies survive all this lying?

Today, we get an answer thanks to the work of Gerardo Iñiguez at Aalto University in Finland and a few pals (including Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist from the University of Oxford of Dunbar's number fame). These guys have simulated the effect that lies have on the strength of connections that exist within a social network.

But they've added fascinating twist. These guys have made a clear distinction between lies that benefit the person being lied to versus lies that benefit the person doing the lying. In other words, their model captures the difference between "white" lies, which are prosocial, and "black" lies, which are antisocial.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday June 14 2014, @09:03AM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Saturday June 14 2014, @09:03AM (#55248) Homepage

    It's called a white lie. That's what a lie is when it's practically harmless and saves hurting someone's feelings. It doesn't matter whether the recipient knows you're lying or not. It's still a white lie.

    In a court, under oath, a white lie is still perjury.

    Well, yes, obviously, but who's talking about court?

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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday June 14 2014, @10:15AM

    by aristarchus (2645) on Saturday June 14 2014, @10:15AM (#55251) Journal

    Let me put it this way: if they do not know you are lying, then it is a black lie. A white lie can save feelings only when there is a tacit agreement to do so. If you try to save my feelings when I expect the plain truth from you, it is no longer a white lie, no matter what you think you are doing all by your lonely.

    The more interesting case is whether you can lie to some one who does not have the capacity to consent to a white lie, such a children or someone traumatically injured. Or someone who definitely should not be wearing those pants.

    • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday June 14 2014, @12:45PM

      by wonkey_monkey (279) on Saturday June 14 2014, @12:45PM (#55285) Homepage

      Let me put it this way: if they do not know you are lying, then it is a black lie.

      That may be your definition, but it's not mine or most dictionaries'.

      Or someone who definitely should not be wearing those pants.

      Oh no you di'n't!

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      systemd is Roko's Basilisk