Why do we lie? - CrowdScience podcast, BBC World Service

CrowdScience listener Anthony from Cambodia asked us to find out why we lie and how conscious we are of the lies that we tell?

CrowdScience’s Caroline Steel is in the hot seat, on a journey where she will attempt to untangle the complex story behind lying.

It’s a subject scientists and psychologists have been studying for a long time. It’s also something writers, philosophers and theologists have been interpreting for thousands of years. But we’re only now really starting to get to grips with how it works as a human behaviour.

There are lies in our folklore, lies in the media and also lies in everyday conversation. It’s something we’ve all had to learn to navigate at some point in our lives.

Our journey will take us to meet the world’s ‘second best liar’, an award she picked up at West Virginia’s Liar Contest. We’ll also meet a comedian who’s proud of the down-to-earth plain honesty of Dutch people.

An academic who has studied thousands of children’s brains will explain when we first start learning to lie. And we’ll hear about new research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which is helping to show how the more we actually lie, the less our brain reacts telling us not to.

Caroline looks at how lying changes from culture to culture. Do we really all lie? And do we lie in the same way? The surprising and intriguing answer is found in how early it develops in us as a human behaviour.

0:00 Introduction
2:40 When do we start lying?
4:50 From first lies to peak lying age around seven
5:50 Teenagers are the most honest age group
6:25 Different types of lie - white lies to red lies
8:15 How many lies do we tell a day?
10:00 The story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf
12:45 Meet Ariana, the world's second best liar
15:20 How can you get away with a lie?
16:10 What goes on in our brain when we lie?
18:30 Can we lie without realising it?
22:15 Differences in lying around the world

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[SaBoTeUr]

When i was studying overseas (Australia), at first I thought people are so friendly, always asking me how I'm doing. But soon, I noticed they did this less and less. I didn't realize that they didn't really want to know how I was, so when I answered honestly, they were put off and started avoiding me. How depressing is that? I have to lie to keep them happily uninvolved with me.

[celine]

I'm dutch and I love the honesty here! I think it's also better for the mental health for both!

[xEnglish]

Thank you for sharing the knowledge about English language..I don't want to stop watching you because I don't want to stop learning ..

[EnglishdaysshortsS]

I appreciate the ending. Even if it’s not entirely true, being polite sometimes makes me feel better. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

[khh]

Today I dicided to learn English so I will listen videos of this channel from today!

[Stella-blte]

I enjoyed the final part of this show! Thank you!😂👍

[AronaCamara-egsd]

I will download this for my English learning and improving. Thank you for sharing. I'll listen to that as soon as I can.

[BradBeck-sgwl]

Lies often act as shields, protecting us from harsh truths and social judgment. Modern psychology suggests we lie to preserve our self-image, avoid conflict, and foster connections, reflecting our intricate dance with truth and deception.

[sofiahabtemariam]

“Very interesting topic. In my opinion, I prefer children’s lies over adult lies, not in phrase support lines, but in general, because adult lies are often noticed as shameful. Thank you.

[ChutamaneeratSaeLim]

I do love the ending, at least, I may feel better, when I'm trying to be polite by saying a lie😂.
Thanks for sharing it via this angle of view😊

[somalishorts]

Thank you for your sharing good importance topic. I appreciate all of you.

[tommasoolanda]

Love the bit of comedy at the end 😄. Btw, the first time I stood in front of the BBC building in London I almost cried. Such an immense moment. Due to my passion for Doctor Who.

[susysamalex]

The BBC teaching people about lying, how very apt!

[aqdasikram]

it starts with learning the first language. where you have to be taught expressions for sake of learning.... i have two sisters, my father is a farmer, a complete essay on my cow where no one in my relative or neighbourhood ever had it.
the expression is delinked with reality to make you learn to speak out of box suitable to situation than reality

[richardleirer]

Wow, celebrating children telling Lies and believing that is an example of a beneficial growth milestone is a benchmark for the downfall of our world. A special Thank you to therapist and counselors who have helped us become this way.

[EnglishStoryShared]

Thanks for sharing this podcast! It's always fascinating to explore the reasons behind human behavior.

[Asalchinoo]

9:13 "For heaven's sake, the man shouldn't appear on the podcast again; he just stumbled."

[EnglishLearningLab]

What an interesting topic! I learned a lot of vocabulary and better ways of speaking in this video

[miwdrgt]

My parents were the catalyst that taught me to lie. Basically i learned that if i talk about certain things i get in trouble, if i ask questions i get in trouble and if i don’t give the answers they want i get in trouble.

So i started lying. Nothing wrong when dealing with unreasonable people.

I got the belt for things like that and it is funny how your view changes when you catch your parents lies out regularly but you get a hiding for your own

[nvynycg]

Thank you so much that you were shared with this a video and I learned about it.