
The Surprisingly Large Cost of Telling Small Lies - warrenmar
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/the-surprisingly-large-cost-of-telling-small-lies/
======
chavesn
The setup for the article theorizes on the cost of lying on the person's
stress levels. I'm sure that's a factor, but I think that pales in comparison
to the empirical evidence the author has found in her own life -- the benefit
of _transparency_.

There's an episode of How I Met Your Mother where a character always asks
"Where's the poop?"[1] when she can tell someone is lying. She had a dog that
always made he same face when it was hiding that it had pooped in the house.

I think the truth is that we all know in business there is _always_ some poop
somewhere. Whenever we lie, we leave our audience with an uneasy feeling,
wondering what the catch is.

When we come right out and tell them what the catch is, we get past that
barrier, which builds a relationship of trust from the start and allows the
audience to weigh the values of our proposal on its true merits. This is the
real power of telling the truth.

[1]: [http://how-i-met-your-
mother.wikia.com/wiki/Where's_the_poop...](http://how-i-met-your-
mother.wikia.com/wiki/Where's_the_poop%3F)

~~~
jrochkind1
Actually, I think you just suggested the power of more devious lying: If you
don't want them to know about the actual poop, tell them about some _lesser_
poop (either real, but lesser; or in fact more or less imaginary), so they
won't think "Where's the poop", but will think "Ah, I know where the poop is,
and I can handle that poop", eliminating the uneasy feeling when someone's
giving you no poop at all but you know there must be some poop, but still not
realizing the real poop is still hidden.

~~~
antocv
That kind of lying is even more powerful in stressing yourself out and
breaking your own spirit. The more time goes the worst it gets.

You fool yourself everytime you fool others, and the lies do catch up to you,
that was the point of the article.

------
furyg3
During my studies (conflict resolution), I had the opportunity to ask several
mediators and negotiators who had worked on high-profile political cases about
lying.

It occurred often, but was by far the least favorite item in the toolbox of a
negotiator. Many would rather make emotional / moral appeals to the opposing
side than lie.

Not because it wasn't effective (in some cases it could be quite effective),
but because the results were very unpredictable. Being called out may
undermine the rest of their position... or if they stuck to the lie to avoid
this situation they may force themselves into defending a non-ideal positions.

It gets worse! There are now a lot more variables for you to consider, as the
hitherto rational party on the other side of the table has been forced to
question all of your statements. He is now much more likely to miscalculate
true statements and positions as being false. You've now turned your
negotiation partner into an (effectively) irrational actor.

~~~
crusso
Then again, in Poker, honesty is not really a winning strategy.

~~~
mncolinlee
Actually, for most hands, honesty is helpful for arbitraging risk.

You need lying in poker, but it should be the exception. No one will buy your
biggest bluffs otherwise.

~~~
crusso
How is that fundamentally different from lying outside of poker?

~~~
reddit_clone
Poker lies are short lived. Once the hand is over, it is done. But in real
life you have to remember and maintain your lies. It takes a toll.

------
hyp0
One difficulty with not "lying" to yourself is complexity. It's often quite
demanding to articulate exactly what you know and what you don't. And in the
process of trying, you'll often find that your model of the situation is
subtly wrong... but it's hard to say exactly how. To really be in contact with
reality, you're a scientist, trying to discern truth.

That is, sometimes we lie because it's simpler and less work to articulate. A
little similar to advertising hyperbole, lacking nuance. Absolutes are simpler
to say, to understand, to reason about.

But the article is just talking about active lying: asserting something that
you _know_ isn't true (or, that you know you're not sure of).

------
Theodores
Some 'game theory', by way of metaphor...

I spent a lot of time playing Scrabble where winning would not strictly be the
aim, goal and objective. Being 'in the zone' and able to repeatedly put down
all seven letters and hit the triple word scores would be where I wanted to
be.

Sometimes I played against those that might rummage in the letters bag,
perhaps to take an extra tile out and have to 'correct' their mistake by
returning a less than desirable letter back into the bag. Obviously on
detecting such cheating one could call them out and storm off from the table.
However this I did not do because I did actually want to win :-) I realised
that the time they spent doing things they should not be doing in order to get
'ideal' letters meant that they were not able to focus in the way I could.

Guess who won?

Scrabble was not the only game played. Bridge was another game played quite
extensively where there was room for cheating. Again, honesty won out.
However, with other card games - played for money - cheating was a viable
strategy, no amount of focus on an honest game could help you to win against
the guy that had all the aces under the table.

And my point is...

There are some areas of endeavour where telling the truth and being honest
will pay dividends. However there are plenty of other areas where those that
are less than honest will win.

~~~
Fuxy
That's the first thought that came to me when reading the article.

Honesty is the best policy small lies are always counter productive and
increase expectations to an unreasonable level sometimes making you putting a
lot of effort into meeting it.

There's very few situations where lying is a good idea however 100% complete
honesty is probably not a good idea either there's some things in business you
just can't reveal however outright refusing to answer the question is probably
a good solution.

------
kzahel
This article reminded me of the "four agreements": "Be impeccable with your
word. Don't take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Always do your
best." Not lying falling under the first.

~~~
jessaustin
I'm not sure what's included in "be impeccable with your word" that isn't also
included in the more mellifluous "don't lie".

~~~
mark_l_watson
Ruiz means by "be impeccable with your word": don't have negative thoughts
about yourself. Basically don't be hard on yourself, rather you should have a
good self image.

~~~
moioci
That appears to be a small part of his meaning, based on this quote copied
from Wikipedia: "Be Impeccable With Your Word. Speak with integrity. Say only
what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip
about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and
love..."

------
incision
_> ”Every time he sees a pitch, he waits until the end of the presentation
before asking the entrepreneurs to go back through the deck and point out
every lie they have just told.”_

This isn’t honesty so much as self-righteousness.

 _> "If you are reading this post and thinking, “This doesn’t apply to me — I
never lie,” you are probably lying to yourself."_

Same deal here.

I find this to be the most frustrating part of practicing honesty - dealing
with people who project their own present or past failure to practice it onto
everyone else. Sure, some people never figure this out, but others will grasp
it long before the mid-30s epiphany the author is relating.

There’s probably some eloquent quote or bit of game theory that sums that up
better than I can, but I’ll try and say this “You’re working against the
practice of honesty to assume dishonesty from everyone else. “

~~~
htns
Psychological tests reduce your points on honesty if you say yes to "I never
lie"

~~~
gretful
that's why I lie on those tests and say no

------
crash78
Wow - I read the article this morning, shortly before I had to present to
managers on the current status of a project. Thought I'd try putting it into
practice. The results: (a) I'm quite shocked at the number of (to be fair,
very little) lies I would normally tell in such a situation, (b) It was
weirdly relaxing being able to just sit there and tell the truth, (c) I've
never received such good feedback from a presentation!

A lesson learnt...

~~~
GFischer
That's very interesting, can you elaborate on the "small lies" you found
yourself telling? (obviously without disclosing anything personal or
confidential).

~~~
crash78
Interestingly, I think most such "small lies" would have affected nobody but
me (and would only have affected me by adding to my stress). e.g. Saying
something's complete when in fact it's 95% complete, and will be complete by
the end of the week, regardless of whether or not I claim right now that it's
complete. There's nobody urgently waiting on this thing. The only difference
then being whether I complete it in a relatively relaxed manner, or under the
additional stress of hoping nobody asks to see it before the end of the week.

Other instances were based on how I felt about certain aspects of the project.
e.g. Q: Do you think the remaining deliverables of the project will follow the
plan? (True) A: Actually no. And here's why.

Previously I would probably just have said yes, and dealt with any upcoming
issues as and when. The truthful approach led to a brief discussion about what
will be different and why. Everyone now understands the issues. They're not
major. Nobody died. Everyone (including me) left happy.

------
wayne_h
Surprisingly the article doesn't mention the biggest benefit of telling the
truth....

Truth forces you to confront your own shortcomings - its an opportunity for
self-improvement.

If I miss a deadline I could makeup some baloney and lay the blame elsewhere
or I can face my own inadequacy and tell the truth.

Its painful to admit I am behind.... but pain is a growth stimulus - it forces
me to deal with the shortcoming. Its easier to lie, tell them what they want
to hear - but you miss out on the chance for your own self improvement.

Embrace the pain - its growth. What happens when you lift weights? Sore
muscles leads to growing bigger muscles. Swing a hammer for a week, leads to
blisters leads to growing calluses.

------
jmzbond
I really like this. My interpretation is the concept of stealth mode. I do
believe there is a small set of use cases for which stealth is justifiable
(e.g., patents), but I also feel like too many people are caught up in the
cool, mystery factor surrounding stealth.

I've talked to so many people about my idea who have told me to shut up about
it, or did I want them to sign an NDA? The answer is NO. I blog about my
entire process, if there's a post missing it's because I haven't written it
down yet.

Perhaps it's because my idea is driven by a social vision--if it's succeed I
don't care who gets there first. You want to steal my idea? Great, let me help
you because I'd like to think I'm smart and I've definitely been thinking
about this for awhile.

When Buffer radically opened up their pay information, the community reacted
in shock. Events like this inspires me. I want to strive for radical
transparency in business.

I will make one tiny caveat though. I don't think radical transparency and
never lying are the same thing. I do lie as well, and in many cases, I think
it's justified. My mother is the worrying type. If she thought I were out at
the bar or club, she literally would not sleep until I returned home. I'm
lying for her health. Is it a slippery slope? Maybe, but then I have articles
like this and wonderful friends who keep me more on the straight and narrow!

FYI you can read about everything related to my idea here:
[https://medium.com/@bsemaj](https://medium.com/@bsemaj)

------
danieltillett
The real problem with lying (apart from the obvious moral one) is the risk you
might start to actually believe your own lies. Once you can't tell what is
true and what is not then you are on track to mess-up big time.

All the times I have been really side-swiped by someone it is when they have
told themselves so many lies that they can no longer act in their own best
interest.

~~~
T-hawk
That's pretty much what the article said. When an entrepreneur fudges facts
about cash flow or profitability, they tend to start believing that fudged
reality and thus start reacting incorrectly to the real one.

------
nnq
I always thought that lies seem so "costly" (as in brainpower sucking, stress
etc.) because I never learned to lie well. And I always thought that instead
of teaching my children to be honest I will teach them to lie well from very
young age, so that when they have to lie as adults it will take them very
little energy and they will do it very well. Training your "lying" muscles
just like a professional athlete trains his muscles.

...but this theory of lying being bad because it detaches us from present
reality sounds like it has something to it. Or maybe someone with very well
trained "lying muscles" can lie a lot and still be 99.9% focused on the
present and aware of the real reality?

~~~
GFischer
Apparently, lying at a young age is a predictor of success, so you might be
onto something there :) :

[http://www.mamiverse.com/children-who-lie-more-likely-to-
be-...](http://www.mamiverse.com/children-who-lie-more-likely-to-be-
successful-11834/)

------
girvo
I cannot agree with this more. I don't know when it was, maybe a few years ago
now, that a wise man I met pointed out that brutal, total honesty makes life
easier to live for yourself. He was right, overall -- I'm still not 100%
perfect, but I took it to heart and tell the truth even when it will hurt me,
or is difficult. This has a flow on effect in my life, where I am more
motivated to do the right thing from the start: that way, I don't _have_ to
lie :)

~~~
cornholio
> total honesty makes life easier to live for yourself

That may all be true, but let's not forget we are talking about a successful
life, not an easy one. And I don't expect success to be easy to come by.

The secret to a successful life is to never lie to yourself, to get people to
trust you (for example, convincingly claim that you never lie), and then lie
them intelligently so that they never figure it out or when they do they can't
do anything about it anymore.

This is fiendishly complex trick to pull and requires some sociopathic
inclinations, so it should not surprise us that many successful business
leaders are indeed sociopaths. We are not talking about famous singers or
athletes who succeed based on their talent. In the business world, the talent
is convincing people better than the competition and that, unless you have
built the perfect company with the perfect product and the perfect employees,
requires lying.

------
herokusaki
Interesting how so far the comments on this story overwhelmingly agree with
the article that it's not worth it to lie. Regardless of how true this point
is I have to wonder whether such unanimity in the discussion might be in part
because the people who found that lying works quite well for them are more
reluctant to share their opinion, for obvious reasons.

~~~
jessaustin
I suspect rather that such people are quite active in the comments; they may
be more reluctant to share an _honest_ opinion.

------
deltaqueue
I deal with this everyday selling software, and it's much more complex than
being truthful and lying.

My job as a technical consultant to our sales staff is to bridge the gap
between needs assessment and salesmanship. I have a 0 tolerance policy about
lying during sales (I have to be to keep our sales guys from making false
promises), but I struggle with finding that delicate balance between the
truth, focusing on what's important to a prospect, and the manner in which you
talk about capabilities you don't have. You cannot simply tell a prospect you
don't have a feature if they don't actually need it because there's a lot of
psychology at play. A competitor told them they needed that feature so you now
have to mitigate their concerns. You essentially need to find a way to be
truthful while simultaneously transferring emphasis to your selling points or
to their needs.

~~~
forgottenpass
_I struggle with finding that delicate balance between the truth ..._

Oh, so you lie, but lie by omission? Or one of the other forms of lying we
tend to morally wallpaper over? I don't see how else to read that because you
said your goal was to avoid making false promises, not to avoid "bending" the
truth.

~~~
efsavage
If a 5 year old child asks you if he will be killed by pirates (yes this has
really happened to me), would you say no? If so, you're lying, but I don't
think there is any "moral wallpaper" here, it's simply letting a kid sleep at
night.

Not to say there aren't many dishonest people out there, but the parallels
between sales (especially software) and this story are all too common.

~~~
forgottenpass
_If so, you 're lying, but I don't think there is any "moral wallpaper" here,
it's simply letting a kid sleep at night._

If the reasoning starts with "This lie is OK because..." you're using the fact
it's easy to argue that the lie was moral to extinguish the weight typically
associated with _lying_.

The reasoning here is based on the idea the child is really asking is if there
are monsters under the bed/in the closet/down the street. You lie because the
truth wouldn't be reassuring, because they can't handle the complexities of
the answer "Anything can happen, but the chances are infinitesimally small if
you stay out if international waters."

So, are you making bad analogies or do you consider your clients children that
couldn't handle the idea you're selling a complex product? It's fine if you
do, people can be real dumb sometimes, I won't mind.

It just seems like you're trying to build yourself a cozy little nest between
the "truth" and "lying" that extends beyond genuine misunderstandings. The
weight of a lie exists on a scale. I do lie to children, but don't consider it
not lying, I just don't worry about it too much. I do tend to believe in
telling less "white lies" to children than is typical but that's a tangent.

------
rosser
"The liar's punishment is not in the least that he is not believed, but that
he cannot believe anyone else." — George Bernard Shaw

~~~
cafard
Well, yes and no. Quite a few intelligent authors have argued that habitual
lying makes one more credulous.

------
veidr
My friend etuttle once told me, "Lying is like taking out a loan. You will
typically have to pay interest on it: remembering that you told it, and
remembering who you told it to... so it's usually not worth it. But once in a
while it is."

~~~
KC8ZKF
"Ethical debt."

------
bittercynic
There have been times when I was completely honest and transparent even in the
face of short term costs specifically because I knew it would help build my
reputation for honesty. I assume I'm not the only one who's done this, so I
wouldn't take it as a sign that a person is 100% trustworthy.

On the other hand, a pattern of honesty probably is the best indicator of an
honest person.

------
skizm
One of my favorite quotes goes like this:

Lies propagate, that's what I'm saying. You've got to tell more lies to cover
them up, lie about every fact that's connected to the first lie. And if you
kept on lying, and you kept on trying to cover it up, sooner or later you'd
even have to start lying about the general laws of thought. Like, someone is
selling you some kind of alternative medicine that doesn't work, and any
double-blind experimental study will confirm that it doesn't work. So if
someone wants to go on defending the lie, they've got to get you to disbelieve
in the experimental method. Like, the experimental method is just for merely
scientific kinds of medicine, not amazing alternative medicine like theirs. Or
a good and virtuous person should believe as strongly as they can, no matter
what the evidence says. Or truth doesn't exist and there's no such thing as
objective reality. A lot of common wisdom like that isn't just mistaken, it's
anti-epistemology, it's systematically wrong. Every rule of rationality that
tells you how to find the truth, there's someone out there who needs you to
believe the opposite. If you once tell a lie, the truth is ever after your
enemy; and there's a lot of people out there telling lies... [0]

If you haven't read "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality" I highly
recommend it. I've gone through the chapters that are online twice now and
will probably read them all once more when the final story arch is released
toward the end of the year.

[0] [http://hpmor.com/chapter/65](http://hpmor.com/chapter/65)

~~~
srs3
Somewhat ironic given how the main character is found consistently lying
through his teeth.

~~~
skizm
Harry? He might selectively tell the truth but pretty much always refuses an
outright lie. With the exception of a few times after the azkaban sequence.

------
JVIDEL
As others have said there are lies and then there are _lies_ , and it also
depends on who tells them.

PR people for example are basically trained to lie, but with subtlety. They
wont outright lie but rather deviate the conversation by pointing out other
facts which are actually irrelevant but serve the purpose to steer looks away
and do some damage control.

A lot of founders lie but they avoid the examples given in the article and
instead choose to overhype the context in which their product works by using
weaselwords and also try to downplay the obstacles or don't even mention them.

I was in a pitch event once and this guy who could sell ice in Siberia went
from salesman supreme to sweating bullets when someone in the audience
destroyed the RDF he built around himself and the product by pointing out a
simple fact that turned to be the achilles heel of the app.

I'm sure a lot of people were thinking about the same, but most weren't, so if
the pitch guy didn't mention it, was he lying? or was he expecting you to know
it and be okay with it?

At the end it depends on who you are and where you are standing, for example
how do the snapchat founders fit into this? the oust of the third member was
one thing but after that the remaining two lied openly and abundantly about
everything from the "story" of the idea to how it came to be, the involvement
of the ex-cofounder and even about the logo he created which is why they had
to modify it.

Then again when you are a company with the momentum to reject a 3 billion
dollar acquisition offer its a whole different position from that of the guy
in the pitch event above.

------
lifeisstillgood
I am utterly amazed - it's true. I have held myself back in the fear a small
lie will get found out. Nothing compared to the expenses of MPs or the affairs
of the adulterous.

But we hold back unable to give our all.

A great lesson to give our kids.

------
rsanek
I have to say, I lost a bit of respect for the author when he says

> _" polygraph tests measuring blood pressure, perspiration, pulse and skin
> conductivity can pinpoint a lie with tremendous accuracy."_

I'm sure polygraphs aren't useless, but to say that they have "tremendous
accuracy" seems exaggerated.

see
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph#Validity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph#Validity)

------
easy_rider
This theory depends entirely on how you define success.

We often define success as prosperity; by the means of increasing our wealth
we gain more security in a lot of parts in our lives. If you then think of
wealth as success, we can see why a lot of stammers could be called
successful.

------
bittercynic
The way the investor thanked her for her honesty: "I really appreciate how
transparent you’ve been with me," made me wonder if the simple choice to be
truthful put her in a tiny minority of those seeking capital.

------
Magi604
This reminds me of the idea of Radical Honesty. Here's a good feature on it:
[http://www.esquire.com/features/honesty0707](http://www.esquire.com/features/honesty0707)

~~~
ebiester
I never liked this, because there is a way to tell someone the truth with
grace.

The canonical example: "Does this make me look fat?"

The answer is "That cut doesn't flatter you." It's honest, but it isn't harsh.

Further, instead of encouraging vulnerability, it masks vulnerability behind
an aggressive facade.

I'd prefer Brene Brown's approach to honesty, myself.

~~~
chrisbennet
I tell people the truth with humor. Examples:

Wife: "Does this make me look fat?"

Me: doot doot diddiddit doot doot.. (circus music which is our code for
"Circus fat." Once upon a time super fat people were rare enough to qualify as
circus attractions i.e. the Fat Man/Woman.)

Wife: "Does this look trashy?"

Me: "Well _I_ like it but I think everyone else will think it looks kinda
slutty."

Wife: "What do you think of this? (Wearing insulated underwear as a top. It's
a Maine thing)

Me: (In a fashion runway voice) "It's the look that says Trailer Park."

------
venomsnake
So nuke marketing, pr and send all politicians in exile?

I would say something else dont bullshit. No dont lie. A lie can be forgiven
and managed. Spinning the language and saying I told the truth creates much
more poisonous effects.

------
madaxe_again
The problem arises when everyone else lies - when you sit there as a sole
honest voice amidst a torrent of fantasy, telling the truth gets you branded a
liar, as you tell truths people do not want to hear.

------
epsylon
Anyone has a copy of the article that isn't behind a paywall?

~~~
davidgerard
Incognito window.

------
FollowSteph3
You also have to look at the motivations. As an investor his primary goal is
determining what is a lie and what isn't so that he can correctly value a
prospect. As an entrepreneur it's not necessarily the main key to success, at
least not higher than keep trying. This doesn't mean I'm saying lie by any
means, just that you should always look at the source of motivation from the
one giving the advice and how it applies to you.

------
sizzle
question for everyone: do you subconsciously equate an honest person as being
(more) dependable/trustworthy/reliable?

I ask because I can't help but group these qualities together. When someone
earns my trust from a track record of being honest, I find it hard not to take
their word on things.

I guess I equate being honest with having good overall intentions. Is this an
innate (human) quality or just wishful thinking on my part?

------
callen6
Does anyone know who "Peter" is? I liked his advice and was really interested
to see what else he's invested in, so I looked on CrunchBase, AngelList,
Posse's website, etc. but I can't track down a Posse angel investor named
Peter. I kind of hope this article about telling the whole truth even if it
makes you vulnerable isn't using a pseudonym for the investor.

------
easy_rider
how about all the succesful scammers? or lying to your "customers". I know I
don't want to do what they do. But I happen to know some people in some
industries in IT where it is pretty much the business model. I do get a bit
jealous when they expose their flamboyant luxurous lifestyle on Facebook to be
honest. so how do you define success? money or happiness ?

------
3minus1
I often feel like always telling the truth is the result of privilege. And
that people who are more insecure for whatever reasons have much more cause to
lie. That being said, I have very little patience for colleagues who lie about
work-related knowledge. It's a huge waste of time.

~~~
Perceval
> I often feel like always telling the truth is the result of privilege.

Maybe, but the converse seems to also be supported: that ease in lying is the
result of privilege:
[http://mors.haas.berkeley.edu/papers/Carney.HowPowerCorrupts...](http://mors.haas.berkeley.edu/papers/Carney.HowPowerCorrupts.pdf)

If both the ability to lie frequently and/or tell the truth as a rule are the
result of privilege, what explanatory effect does privilege have?

~~~
3minus1
Yeah, maybe "result" is wrong. It's not a cause and effect. I probably should
have said that having social and economic resources makes it easier to tell
the truth, specifically in instances where the person knows they can easily
withstand any negative consequences.

As an example: leaving a note when you accidentally damage another person's
car.

------
zheshishei
This reminds me of Grice's Maxims[1]. Lying is an impediment to communication.

[1][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_principle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_principle)

------
baddox
Maybe my memory is bad, or perhaps I'm subconsciously "lying to myself," but I
don't think I lie anywhere near as often as the author believes she and other
people do, even about tiny things.

~~~
ronaldx
I'd be surprised if you don't tell small lies in 'conversational mode'.

In natural speech, people generally make simplifications that edge towards
oversimplification, or omissions that could be considered misleading if the
omission is not fully understood by both parties, or false statements just
because of a personal misconception (perhaps only realised later). That's a
natural part of communicating at a reasonable speed.

Eliminating those occasions takes real effort towards communicating well.

Perhaps you don't consider those "lying" as such, because they're not
deliberate attempts to mislead. But the boundary between these and deliberate
"lying" is blurred. Your motivation for communicating with these shortcuts is
a deliberate choice that is worth reconsidering occasionally.

If you can avoid those white-type lies 100% of the time, I applaud you. I
don't think it's easy and few people manage it.

~~~
baddox
I don't feel like I actively avoid white lies, but I can't think of many that
I've told recently. When I was a kid, sure, I'd lie to my parents about little
things, and in school I would invent or exaggerate excuses for late
assignments, etc. But now I don't feel like there's much need to do that.

Of course, when you get into simplification and omission, things get more
complicated. I've absolutely simplified basic things like where I'm from, or
the exact timeline of my education, etc. And every time I say anything, I'm
omitting, well, everyone that I _don 't_ say. The line there is definitely
blurry.

------
coldcode
I read a few paragraphs and then the article vanished and I was asked to log
in. Why? Either don't show it to me or show it to me. Changing it after I
started reading is pathetic.

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vbuterin
This article comes to mind:

[http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/Virtue1.html](http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Libertarian/Virtue1.html)

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loceng
"The webs we weave when we learn to deceive"

~~~
aaronem
I've heard a few versions of that chestnut, but the only one which both rhymes
and scans is this: 'Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to
deceive.'

~~~
thotpoizn
...

"But when we've practiced quite a while How vastly we improve our style!"

( - J. R. Pope, A Word of Encouragement. Collected in The New Oxford Book of
English Light Verse, 1978.)

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suprgeek
Don't Fake it So that you Make it?

------
Jack77
Paywall.

