From the start of our lives, we’re instructed not to lie. We’re berated when we do, and constantly reminded of the trust and integrity compromised when we decide to have a change of heart. As time goes on, we more or less become accustomed to this loss of integrity, trading in the values we’ve grown to cherish in exchange for what Thomas Carson, in his piece “Lying, Deception and Related Concepts” defines as lying. Lying, as Carson describes, is delivering a statement that the speaker knows to be false, but wishes (and persuades the listener to believe) is true. Many believe the morality of intentionally lying to be clearly in the wrong except in cases such as preventing embarrassment or detriment to the recipient. However, lying is common enough that the listeners have started to catch on, and have growingly decided to flip the script on the speakers.
Rather than being duped on the receiving end of fibs, the listeners have decided to lie before the speakers can, immediately discrediting the thoughts of the speaker which they know are true. This may seem unorthodox, but with growing surveillance and heightened pressures to maintain the appearance of stability, the Chinese government has embodied this notion to prevent dissidence and civil unrest. By denying the validity of potentially damaging statements made by whistleblowers and political critics, they don't have to worry about the impact of these claims, because they're simply not true. This hand-waving philosophy was brought into the spotlight with the recent silencing of Li Wenliang (top right), a prominent doctor in the Wuhan province stuck in the epicenter of the feared Coronavirus outbreak1. Shocked by the emergence of a virus similar to the SARS epidemic that ravaged the country more than a decade prior, Wenliang alerted hospital workers in the area to be on the lookout for carriers, much to the dismay of the government, who subsequently reprimanded Wenliang and worked to discredit this observation from one of their own doctors, while the virus continued to spread without proper preventative measures in place. With the spread of the virus comes a new victim - the death of traditional lying and the subsequent ushering of the deception era by those who do not want these thoughts to be heard. With Carlson absent from the scene, it’s up to us to reevaluate the fate of the most common sin.
I found your article to be very interesting, and also a little surprising. When I read the Carson reading, I never viewed it in the way you did. I really enjoyed how you connected this reading to something real that is being discussed in the news as we speak. Something that I'd suggest would help make your argument even stronger is to spend less time about what happened with Wenliang (I think most of us know at least the general idea), and use that space to discuss a second example. I think another example, where you clearly point out who the liar is, is necessary to further explain your argument of how lies have changed. Overall though, great job! This was an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteHi Dominick! I thought your blog post was very well done. You made a connection that I wouldn't've made otherwise. You made a very solid connections to the Carson reading and class discourse. Your image is relevant, and provides a nice break in your piece. I was going to comment and say to add a link, but then I looked closer and found a footnote link that doesn't have a footnote! I saw it links offsite, but you should just format it as a hyperlinked word instead of a teeny tiny footnote. Also, your formatting is a little off, and it causes the whole blog website to scroll horizontally. Make sure you fix that up for your revision! Overall, pretty good job!
ReplyDeleteDominick, I found you article interesting and it taught me things that are surprising since I should know them already because they seem to be quite serious. The major thing that threw this paper off was the formatting; the picture is off center and the text above and below the picture reads off of the page. Also, try adding a caption to the photo so we know who that is without making assumptions.
ReplyDelete