Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Lying -- by Sam Harris


Lying – by Sam Harris

Essay (nonfiction)
84 pages
footnotes/endnotes: Yes
Illustrations: No
Suitable for eReaders: Depends on whether you want to read the endnotes

Rainy Day subscribes to Sam Harris' Project Reason. Today, the new article was, "The Fall of Jonah Lehrer" the young science journalist and author recently fallen from grace for lying in his articles. To read the article, go here:  http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-fall-of-jonah-lehrer.

In reading the article, Mr. Harris made the content of his essay Lying available as a free download for a limited time. Rainy Day took advantage, downloaded it, and read it.

As stated above, it contains endnotes, and Rainy Day would be telling a lie if she said that was okay. It is not. If the notes were bibliography only, it would be acceptable, however, many contain relative information that was not easily accessed at the appropriate time.

However, the essay itself is well worth the read, and the investment in time and money. It is an accessible book, and guaranteed to make one think about the lies they tell – and Rainy Day is positive all of us do, at one time or another.

But, are our lies ethical? Do they really hurt anyone? And, once told, what do we think of the person we lied to, who bought our story? Yes, Rainy Day admits, she lies. Daily. After all, she writes stories – but she doesn't claim them as truth. What about the Politicians. They lie, and what do we think of them? (And what do they think of us?)

The chapters cover What Is a Lie? to White Lies, Integrity, Big Lies, and several other lies. And ways to tell the truth when asked questions like, "Does this dress make me look fat?"

Read this book, take his advice, and live a happier, fuller life!

To buy the essay ($1.99) go here:  http://www.samharris.org/lying