White Lies
The color white connotes pure or harmless, but science has proven that lying, even lies that seems trivial, cause a person’s brain to adapt to a life of dishonesty. Neuroscientists, Garrett, Lazzaro, Ariely and Sharot completed a study showing that
“Dishonesty is an integral part of our social world, influencing domains ranging from finance and politics to personal relationships. Anecdotally, digressions from a moral code are often described as a series of small breaches that grow over time.”
These scientists proved through empirical evidence, including functional MRI, that a gradual escalation of self-serving dishonesty reveal a neural mechanism supporting it. An example played out in recent news, Hope Hicks, the President’s Press Secretary admitted to spreading white lies for President Trump. This installation takes a look at the tangled web of white lies and how they begin, by stretching the binary code of right and wrong, to a complete distortion of order. The question remains, does anyone tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
“Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.”
Marmion, Sir Walter Scot