‘The Ways We Lie’ by Stephanie Ericsson Free Essay Example

“The Ways We Lie” is about the different ways people lie and explains the reasons behind it. It is written by Stephanie Ericsson. I agree with one of Ericsson’s points about stereotypes.

In this article, Ericsson questions her own personal experiences and explains how they are harmful. She also mentions how people lie on a daily basis to make life easier by neglecting the outcomes. This essay shows that lying has become an important part of life. Ericsson also uses some examples of lies, listed in her essay such as slick politicians, friends, and corporate robbers to compare herself.

The author has classified each lie in five different types. The first is a white lie, which is small lies and we don’t think it matters. We put ourselves in a superior position thinking that the lie is better for everyone, without thinking about its long-term consequences. Sometimes, the person lied to doesn’t even realize that they were lied to and this could affect how they look at a situation.

The second is Facades, which means the false face you put on that others believe in. Facades can be bad because changing faces and fooling people can build trust but in the end, when the truth comes out it can be very disappointing. The third is Ignoring the Plain Facts, which means to help people to cover their lies or pretend as nothing happened. This lie can face lots of consequences because the more we try to hide the lies; it can end up encouraging the liar to commit more crimes.

The fourth is Stereotype or Clich’s, pre-judging someone before you know them or a phase that has been overused defines this lie. Down part about this lie is people will judge with your appearance, including all kinds of isms- racism, sexism, ageism etc. They go with the old saying and misjudge everyone. The fifth is Out-and-Out Lies, the lie which you already know about it but people still manage to say it anyway. This lie is also a straightforward lie. Lastly, Ericsson talks about how all these lies can change the way we think. She also mentioned that it’s hard to eliminate lies in our lives. She is concerned about how far we can tolerate these activities and what will be the aftermath’ The author wants everybody to take responsibility for their lies and start accepting the truth.

‘Ericsson says that stereotypes and cliches are always dangerous. I completely agree because I think pre-judging someone just with their appearance can be very tricky. Not knowing the truth and misunderstanding people can cause a serious problem. For example, I am from Nepal, and my professor once mentioned her experience with another student from Nepal, who was very hard to deal with. After her bad experience with him, she automatically formed an image of how students from Nepal are, and she treated as though we were all troublemakers. This was a problem because pre-judging everybody on the basis of one bad experience can affect grading and also on students’ performance.

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get a custom paper by one of our expert writers.

Get your custom essay

Helping students since 2015