We explore neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris's short book on Lying.

Watching back over this, it's certainly one of our favourites. It's a nice one to jump back to and remind ourselves to be as truthful as possible -- both to ourselves and in our relationships -- and to take every opportunity to strengthen that muscle of telling the truth.

We discuss: Harris's definitions of lying, deception, and lies of omission and commission; how lying affects the view we have of ourselves, our desires, and reality; the impacts lying has on our relationships, with suggestions on how we can change our language to be more compassionate and not recoil from intimacy; what it means to have an internal vs external locus of evaluation; and the impact technology has on our relationships.

Hope you enjoy.

Will & Luke

  • 00:15 Introduction
  • 02:15 Thoughts on impact of book
  • 05:15 Use of tact
  • 06:15 Providing feedback and receiving praise
  • 10:45 How Sam defines Lying, Deception, Omission & Commission
  • 16:15 White Lies
  • 22:45 How Lying affects relationships (Grant relationships the depth they deserve)
  • 29:00 Truthfulness to ourselves (values and desires)
  • 32:00 Example of how lying weakens our truth muscle (and how to strengthen through language)
  • 42:05 When we lie to others, we trust them less
  • 45:00 Truth as the antidote to suffering. Saying what we know to be true, stop saying things we know not to be. (Paying attention to our internal reaction)
  • 52:45 How we read others in response to our words/reactions
  • 54:25 Impact of technology on our ability to read each other
  • 56:15 Integrity, Honesty and Congruency
  • 1:06:25 Locus of evaluation (internal vs external)
  • 1:12:30 Final reflections (truth being a mirror to our wants, how this effects our view of self and our relationships) + (Not compassionate to distorting others reality and your own)

This specific episode can also be seen on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C-o0BpA6r0

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