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Not so wise at telling lies.

Pinocchio would be ashamed.

Michael Freer
3 min readSep 28, 2020
Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

With all these conspiracy theories flying around that Covid-19 was spread by animals and the government’s response has been perfectly fine, it got me onto thinking about lying.

Why do we do it and why are some people so bad at it?

As a child

We all know how bad children are at lying, and that it is essentially just a defense mechanism where they speak before thinking.

I’m sure we’ve all caught an under-10 either in the act of something they shouldn’t be doing, or just after. That typical chocolate cake scene, or drawings on the wall or a snapped flower in the garden.

Each time there is no doubt who did the crime, yet the child persists to tell you ‘I didn’t do it’, Bart Simpson style.

This is a phase of our life where we haven’t quite fathomed what lying really means nor the effect it can have on people. We know right from wrong, and are therefore more upset about being in the wrong than escaping by telling a lie.

The lies are pretty simple, often found out, and don’t lead on to a bigger fantasy story. Most of the time at least, unless your child is a sociopath.

As a teen

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Michael Freer
Michael Freer

Written by Michael Freer

Social enterprise enthusiast, avid traveller and fiction writer. www.ensoco.co.uk

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