1 . Lying is something that most of us are expert at. We lie at ease, in ways big and small, to strangers, co-workers, friends, and loved ones. Our capacity for dishonesty is as fundamental to us as our need to trust others, which ironically makes us terrible at detecting lies. Being deceitful is woven into our very fabric, so much so that it would be truthful to say that to lie is human.
The universality of lying was first documented systematically by Bella DePaulo, a social psychologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Two decades ago DePaulo and her colleagues asked 147 adults to write down for a week every instance they tried to mislead someone. The researchers found that the subjects lied on average one or two times a day. Most of these untruths were not offensive, intended to hide one’s inadequacies or to protect the feelings of others. Some lies were excuses—one subject blamed the failure to take out the garbage on not knowing where it needed to go. Yet other lies—such as a claim of being a diplomat’s son—were aimed at presenting a false image. While these were minor crimes, a later study by DePaulo and other colleagues involving a similar sample indicated that most people have, at some point, told one or more “serious lies”—making false claims on a college application, for example.
That human beings should universally possess a talent for deceiving one another shouldn’t surprise us. Researchers speculate that lying as a behavior arose not long after the emergence of language. The ability to control others without using physical force likely gave an advantage in the competition for resources and mates, similar to the evolution of deceptive strategies in the animal kingdom, such as camouflage (伪装).“Lying is so easy compared to other ways of gaining power,” notes Sissela Bok, an ethicist at Harvard University who’s one of the most prominent thinkers on the subject. “It’s much easier to lie in order to get somebody’s money or wealth than to hit them over the head or rob a bank.”
As lying has come to be recognized as a deeply-rooted human trait, social science researchers and neuro-scientists have sought to explain the nature and roots of the behavior. Researchers are learning that we tend to believe some lies even when they’re obviously contradicted by clear evidence. These insights suggest that our tendency to deceive others and our weakness to be deceived, are especially consequential in the age of social media. Our ability to separate truth from lies is under unprecedented threat.
1. What can we learn about the study by Bella DePaulo and her colleagues?| A．They made adults write the instances where they misled someone one or two times a day. |
| B．The subjects tended to lie to hide their own feelings and present a different image. |
| C．Lying was first documented systematically by Bella DePaulo and her colleagues. |
| D．Bella DePaulo and her colleagues made more than one study to show most people lied. |
| A．meaningless | B．useless | C．harmless | D．endless |
| A．most human beings possess a talent for deceiving because of the emergence of language |
| B．animals also use deceptive strategies in order to gain an advantage in the competition |
| C．human beings universally have both talents for deceiving others and detecting lies |
| D．social media will be able to help human beings to tell truth from lies in the future |
| A．A Surprising Discovery of Lies |
| B．Lying: A Deeply-rooted Human Trait |
| C．The Nature and Root of Deception |
| D．On Human Weakness in Spotting Lies |
He
Connected to each other like never before, young people today are becoming agents of change, increasingly
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research
Chinese poetry is an essential part of Chinese culture,
Music comes in different styles and forms. But my favorite music genre is jazz, and it is smooth and relaxing. Whenever I am tired or
With their long tusks, elephants look elegant and strong. However, this unique feature is also the reason for
