White Lies: Are they good or bad?
- Ga Eun
- Mar 1
- 2 min read
The continuous debate on white lies.
By: GaEun, Year 10
In a society where honesty is held at such a high degree, the concept of "white lies" has always been a controversial topic which questions whether these seemingly innocent acts can be beneficial or not. While some argue that these lies can maintain social harmony and prevent emotional distress, others disagree doubting the morality of deception. In this article, we will be exploring the multifaceted reality of white lies.
Despite the high regard for honesty, in certain situations, being forthright may not always be the right answer. For instance, let’s imagine a scenario where a terminally ill patient asks their beloved whether they believe they will be able to recover. In these cases, rather than being brutally honest, utilizing a white lie can maintain the patient’s positivity and well-being. Plus, if very lucky, a special phenomenon called the ‘placebo effect’ may occur such as the one portrayed in the novel “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry. Depicting an artist with pneumonia who believes that her life will end when the ivy vine on the wall outside her window loses all its leaves. However, the protagonist recovers when her neighbor, Behrman, paints leaves on the wall.
However harmless white lies may seem, they can erode trust and integrity, along with causing severe, long-term effects in the future. According to research, it has been proven that habitual reliance on white lies can create a bad addiction to lying where individuals prioritize their comfort over ethics leading to the absence of genuine conversations and distrust between people.
Whether they were well-intentioned or not, white lie is a still lie, and such falsehoods can have unforeseen consequences. An example of this could be telling a subordinate they did a good job of handling the work when they didn’t; this could limit the subordinate from improving themselves further on, and if they make a huge mistake in the future, can cause disastrous troubles for both.
Despite the moral dilemmas surrounding the issue, the inquiry of whether white lies are truly good or inherently bad remains disputable. While a small falsehood may indeed be the kindest act to make up the day, a single lie can also deteriorate the whole relationship, so to you, what are white lies: an act of kindness or a hurtful deceit?
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