27. Sam Harris

So I am reading along in Martha Beck’s book The Way of Integrity which is a self-help book based on Dante’s Inferno. I know that sounds like a bad joke, but it’s actually a good book.

So I come to this:

“Approaching circles eight and nine, Dante braces himself to encounter the worst sinners of all: liars.”

So my ears really perk up at this because, what?? Really??  I am super interested, because Lying and I  have quite a little history. Most of us do it all the time. As in “you hardly notice that stain” and “I’d love to sit in the back seat with your drooling Saint Bernard.”

But 10 years ago, after reading Sam Harrison’s book Lying, Mara and I decided to try not to lie for a year. That is a wild and sweaty game-changer, I will tell you!

And because of that, I have done a lot of thinking about lying. So I found it cool that Dante and Martha and Sam all seem to be pointing to lying as the most insidious of sins.

Sam Harris kicked me off in a brand-new way of thinking. That maybe telling the truth is important. Maybe one of the most important things we can do. Thanks to Sam Harris, here are some things I have come to think about lying:

Lying to protect someone says “I don’t trust you to handle reality.”

Lying to impress someone says “I’m not up to par, you won’t like the real me.”

And lying always means your comfort is more important than mine.

 OK back to Sam Harris. That guy is a true original thinker. He has something to say on every controversial subject from religion to artificial intelligence to free will.

 And whether I agree with him or not, it is always a little mind-blowing to read his stuff. Here’s to the people that help us step outside our comfort zone.