READING TEXT
Why we can't stop lying
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Original fictional learning scenario. People, dialogue and personal experiences are created for language practice.
When a friend asked whether I liked her first short story, I said it was excellent. I wanted to encourage her and avoid an awkward conversation. A week later, she entered it in a competition and received detailed criticism of the same weaknesses I had noticed. She was not angry that judges disliked it; she was hurt that I had made my praise impossible to trust.
The experience did not convince me that every thought must be spoken without care. There is a difference between cruelty and useful honesty. I could have named a strong scene and asked whether she wanted suggestions for revision. My easy answer protected me from discomfort more than it protected her. Sometimes the question is not why people lie, but whose feelings an apparently kind lie is really serving.
