Bunch of liars!

We all lie. Anyone that tells you that they don't lie is lying. At least, that's my opinion. Personally, I lie all the time. For example, if I'm feeling a little sick, and someone asks me how I'm doing, I smile and say, "great!" If a friend of mine just ran up a flight of stairs, they look disheveled and swarthy, and they ask me how they look, I smile and say, "great!" I could go on. The point is, sometimes white lies are important for protecting good relationships, other peoples feelings and so on.

Now, if you're cheating on your partner and they ask you about it, and you lie, that's bad. If you stole money from your friend, and they ask you about it, and you lie, that's bad, too. Again, I could go on. The point is, there are all kinds of lies. Some are innocent white lies, others are mean, some protect lives and others cause very dangerous situations.

Despite my feelings on this matter, a recent AP-Ipsos poll, reported by CNN, found that half of respondents think lying is "never justified." However, two-thirds think it's "okay to lie in certain situations." That means that one quarter of people are a little dumb, or they were lying.

The poll also found that 40 percent of people think it's okay to lie to "make a story more interesting"; around 33 percent think it's fine to lie about your age; and the same number think it's okay to get out of work by lying.

The groups of people most likely to say lying is okay are aged 18-29, college graduates and have higher household incomes. And no, I don't think that these people are more dishonest, I think they are more honest about their dishonesty. We're all dishonest to some degree, and we should embrace it, be aware of it and make sure we know where to draw the line.

Another interesting result in the study, reported by CNN: "Four in 10 people answered that they'd never had to lie or cheat. But one in 10 of THOSE people said in the very next answer that yes, they might have told a lie in the past week."

The CNN report concluded that, either they "misunderstood the question" (are a little dumb), or, "they may have lied." May have?