Slippery Slope: Study Finds Little Lies Lead to Bigger Ones

[mitty14u2]

Source: ABC News

Telling little fibs leads down a slippery slope to bigger lies — and our brains adapt to escalating dishonesty, which makes deceit easier, a new study shows.

Neuroscientists at the University College London's Affective Brain Lab put 80 people in scenarios where they could repeatedly lie and get paid more based on the magnitude of their lies. They said they were the first to demonstrate empirically that people's lies grow bolder the more they fib.

The researchers then used brain scans to show that our mind's emotional hot spot — the amygdala — becomes desensitized or used to the growing dishonesty, according to a study published online Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience .

"You can think of this as a slippery slope with what begins as small acts of dishonesty escalating to much larger ones," said study lead author Neil Garrett , now a neuroscience researcher at Princeton University. "It highlights the potential dangers of engaging in small acts of dishonesty on a regular basis because these can escalate to much larger ones further down the line."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/slippery-slope-study-finds-lies-lead-bigger-43018413

---

Trump is a perfect subject for a slippery slope!

I didn't need a study to tell me lies become more frequent and easier the more you lie. Most people learn or start lying very young and also learn that people figure out you are a liar before you realize they know you are a liar.

If you live long enough you learn to tell people they are lying without saying it or proving they are lying. Good liars are those that skip around facts or use opinions as facts they gray up the subject/facts, deflect the story to use no facts or impossible scenarios to disproof without further study, just make up stories or lies that become easier and easier with practice.

[doc03]

1. Weren't we all taught that before we were like 6 years old? It takes a

University study to figure that out!

[nolabels]

4. More than likely they were trying to figure out if there was a way around it

Of course they were just lying to themselves

[Loki Liesmith]

2. Only a problem if you are a shite liar.

[Blue_Tires]

3. It's not a lie if YOU believe it!

[Igel]

6. No, it's not.

A lie requires an intent to deceive. If you believe it then you're not acting to deceive somebody else. You're just trying to convince them. Even if what you're saying is entirely non-veridical. ("Veridical." It's a useful word.)

Pathological liars aren't. They're just deluded and can't be trusted.

A lot of people like the use the word "lie" because they don't believe what's said or it's been proven false and they want to attack the person at the same time. Then it's the personal attack that's more salient than the lack or veridicality. Even if you're honestly mistaken, if you're wrong it's important to attribute ill-will and duplicity because it's required for one's own ego and self-esteem. Silly, that. But utterly human, something that critical thinking should help fight. (Except that many have confused being critical with thinking critically, confused criticism with critique.)

[Nitram]

5. And in other startling news, wild bears shit in the woods!

[Historic NY]

7. Does Bigly know???