The Philosophy of Deception

"And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32)

-Unofficial motto of the Central Intelligence Agency

If there was absolute certainty of the nature, depth, scope, and knowledge of the whole of existence, where the darkness of uncertainty didn't exist anymore and all of humanity became aware of this absolute understanding, then deception would become completely impossible and all currently active and believed lies would unravel at their core and lose their power.

A lie has to be believed in order to have power over someone's mind. If they fall on deaf ears and unconvinced people, then they are as empty as the wind.

The philosophy of deception is different than the psychology of deception in that it does not deal with the empirical, scientific analysis of deception and it's psychological, physical symptoms or attributes. It deals with the deeper nature of deception in the whole of the world or existence and how it operates more on the level of thought and imagination.

Even though I still agree with the common consensus on what lying is and what deception entails in terms of the more grounded and "down to earth" components of it, I see deception a little differently now than I used to.

For starters, deception requires uncertainty, and uncertainty is kind of darkness in our universe. If there was no uncertainty, deception wouldn't be possible.

If I said there was a dog walking next to me right now, I'd be lying, but because of the uncertainty that is inherent in the fact that you can't see me or know where I am, that deception is actually plausible so you could very well believe it. The moment you come across me eliminates the uncertainty, and you find there is no dog next to me, so the lie loses it's influence and power in your mind.

You may be just left with the anger that you were lied to (or a humor if it was in jest)

Plausibility is one of the most important components of deception. The more possible, but especially more plausible, a lie is, the more likely it is to be believed.

If I told you there was a werewolf next to me, it is far less plausible than a dog because most people don't believe werewolves exist, so that lie is far less likely to believed. Plus, it's not even the full moon tonight.

Now, I have some "unconventional" beliefs about existence. I believe it is infinite, for one thing, and as a result I believe everything exists in some way, some place, some time period, or some realm of existence. It's just not everything exists in a tangible, substantial way in our world.

If there is a form or an idea of something it exists even if only as a form or an idea. Forms and ideas still exist, though.

You'll never see the actual Millenium Falcon fly through earth's atmosphere or a dragon burn down a city, but the forms and ideas of these things still exist, and their fictional universes could still very well exist in full in some realm of infinity.

As a result, I've learned that deception is less about something being truly non-existent and more about "applicability and unapplicability."

I define deception as "misapplying information to a context or situation it can't be applied to."

If I were to tell you I'm wandering the streets of Los Angeles with a beer in my hand I would be lying to you....buuuttt Los Angeles very much exists, I very much exist, and beer very much exists, but two of those things do not apply to the situation I am in or the context of what I am doing.

That's what makes it a lie is its lack of applicability not so much any true non-existence.

In fact you'll never find a lie, especially an effective one, that involved something that truly didn't exist.

Even the fictional stuff exists as forms and ideas.

It's a matter of the fact that it is being applied to a situation, context, or circumstance that it absolutely can't be applied to.

Deception can be incredibly destructive. It can destroy relationships, start fights, destroy liberty, start wars, and destroy entire nations.

Deception, as far as a psychological and spiritual force, has the highest body count BY FAR of any other that I know, especially of those abominations mentioned in the bible.

Deception is the harbinger of death, so try your best not to lie too much, because it very well could be the harbinger of your own demise.