Is Lying a Good Strategy?
人为什么撒谎？
A new documentary film presents the science behind when and why people lie. Daisy Yuhas reports
一个新的纪录电影展现了什么时候和为什么人类会撒谎。
撰文 黛西·尤哈斯（Daisy Yuhas）
翻译 王宁
Everybody lies. But for the most part, we still see ourselves as good, honest people. So, why do we do it—and are we all just kidding ourselves?
每个人都会说谎，但对大部分人来说，我们一直认为自己是善良诚实的人，但是我们又为什么会撒谎呢？难道只是为了自我娱乐？
[Daniel Ariely:] “So, is lying or being dishonest irrational? Sometimes. Sometimes not.”
“因此，撒谎或不诚实就是非理性的吗？有时是，有时不是。
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, at Duke Univeristy, studies irrational behavior. In recent years, he has found himself drawn to mendacity, prevarication, fabrication—you know, lying.
行为经济学家Dan Ariely在杜克大学研究非理性行为，近些年，他发现他自己已经沉迷于谎言，搪塞，捏造—你懂的，在说谎。
Now Ariely has teamed up with documentarian Yael Melamede to create a film called “(Dis)Honesty.” Through a series of interviews, the movie presents real world cases of cheating, corruption and little white lies alongside Ariely’s scientific findings.
现在Ariely与纪录片导演Yael Melamede合作拍摄了一部名为“（不）诚实”的电影，通过一系列的采访，这部电影展现了真实世界中的欺骗，贿赂和善意的谎言以及Ariely的科学研究发现。
In the process, it becomes clear that the differences between serious fraud and a minor fib may be less significant than we want to believe.
在制作过程中，严重的谎言和微小的欺骗的好像并没有我们相信的那么重要。
[Ariely]: “Originally, we were going to call the movie ‘Slippery Slope,’ because so many people basically started doing something, rationalized, took another step, another step…”
本来我们想把这部电影命名为“步入深渊”，因为很多人一开始都是做一些合理的事情，走错了一步，接着又一步，最终…。
Our knack for explaining and reinterpreting our actions allows us to feel like we are still basically honest, no matter how far we stray from our values. But just because we can rationalize our dishonesty does not mean we’re acting rationally. Fudging the facts might, for example, get you through one tricky situation, but the repercussions may make your life harder later on.
我们对自我行为的解释和阐述的技巧使得我们感觉自己还是基本诚实的，无论我们已经偏离了自己的价值观多远，即使我们可以使谎言合理化，但这并不意味着我们的行为就是合理的，捏造事实或许可以是你度过一个糟糕的境遇，但是这样做的不良后果会使你以后的生活更加困难。
[Ariely]: “That’s not a rational path.”
这并不是一个合理的方式。
So the next time you’re offered what seems like an easy way out by lying, consider that you could just be lying—to yourself.
因此下一次你有机会可以用谎言轻松解决一件事情之时，想一下你只不过在自欺欺人罢了。
（题图来源：chuansong.me）
京ICP备11000850号 
京公网安备11010502039775号
信息网络传播视听节目许可证0111611号
国家科技基础条件平台
© 2011- 版权所有：中国数字科技馆 未经书面许可任何人不得复制或镜像
京公网安备11010502039775号 
