Different Kinds of Lies = 3

 

1. First kind: “I Swear to tell the truth” – Lies of Commission

If someone tells you something that is not a fact then we call this a lie of commission. This type of lie is telling someone something that is simply not true. You’re twisting the truth to create a (usually more favorable) version of something that happened.

Suppose I knew it was raining outside and you asked me about the weather. “Oh no problem, it’s perfectly sunny outside!” You would now be making a decision to dress for sunny weather based on the wrong information you were given.

2. Second kind: “The whole truth” – Lies of Omission

Another type of lie is one where you leave out an important part of information, hence the name lie of omission. In this lies, someone omits an important detail from a statement. These are nasty lies because they’re harder to spot and take less effort from the person who is lying.

Suppose you are buying a used car. You ask the car salesman about the state of the car you’re currently considering. “Oh, don’t worry about that! This car has had all of its scheduled maintenance done!” He fails to tell you, however, about the bottomless pit became in replacing parts and still not reliable. So yes, the car has had all of the scheduled maintenance done, but to sell the car to you, the salesman leaves out some crucial elements… 

3. Third kind: “And nothing but the truth” – Lies of Character

Sometimes people will tell you something completely unrelated to the truth to cover up a lie. This is what we call a character lie or a lie of influence. These lies are meant to make you believe the liar or to make the liar seem like such a great person that they are unlikely to be suspected of lying.

For example - you work at the local store and a colleague has been taking money from the cash registers. It’s your job to find out who it is. You interview Mary and ask her if she took the money. Her response is, “I’ve worked here for 15 years!” This is a typical character lie. By telling you how long she’s worked at this store, Mary is trying to make it seem highly unlikely that she took the money.

Different kinds of TRUTHS: just one kind - truth period.