Derren Brown (and surely quite a few others) love pointing out that this is an industry where you tell your audience you are going to lie to them, then lie to them.
It's entertainment.
Uri was flat out lying, and refused to break character, basically turning him into a charlatan.
Is that so? Most magicians do not pretend their illusions are actual magic. How do other performers lie? Do you think an actor is lying while they act?
A lie involves the intent to deceive someone who is entitled to expect the truth from you. It's not merely a question of whether a statement is on its face true or false.
This is important, because if we are to make a sweeping statement that lying is wrong, then we need to make sure we are clear on what is and what isn't a lie.
I say all sorts of outrageous things to my children, but I'm not lying to them because I don't expect them to believe me -- and they don't. In an analogous way, magic shows are not lying because the deceit is part of the premise. Telling a knock knock joke when you're not actually a banana (or whatever) is similarly not a lie.
I found that lying is no more intrinsically bad than truth telling is intrinsically good. Both truth and lies commonly enable terrible harms.
Like pretty much everything, it depends. Consideration is a much better policy than honesty.
> lying is bad, especially when done for profit.
This so often ends up in a bad place that I'll likely flag it as problematic - even before I have complete information. But that's because of reality & history, not an arbitrary rule.
To clarify, are you advocating for the use of white lies in situations where the truth would do greater harm? Or are you promoting lying to larger degrees?
redeux|2 years ago
ksaj|2 years ago
It's entertainment.
Uri was flat out lying, and refused to break character, basically turning him into a charlatan.
enneff|2 years ago
andrewaylett|2 years ago
This is important, because if we are to make a sweeping statement that lying is wrong, then we need to make sure we are clear on what is and what isn't a lie.
I say all sorts of outrageous things to my children, but I'm not lying to them because I don't expect them to believe me -- and they don't. In an analogous way, magic shows are not lying because the deceit is part of the premise. Telling a knock knock joke when you're not actually a banana (or whatever) is similarly not a lie.
WarOnPrivacy|2 years ago
I taught my kids otherwise.
I found that lying is no more intrinsically bad than truth telling is intrinsically good. Both truth and lies commonly enable terrible harms.
Like pretty much everything, it depends. Consideration is a much better policy than honesty.
> lying is bad, especially when done for profit.
This so often ends up in a bad place that I'll likely flag it as problematic - even before I have complete information. But that's because of reality & history, not an arbitrary rule.
awb|2 years ago