Sam Harris, whom i guess you could call one of the world’s leading atheists, wrote this kindle single:
This is the only line worth being honest about here: This book fucking sucks.
Luckily, it will only waste like ten minutes of your time. Sam has degenerated into the atheist version of Mitch Albom, writing retrospectives nobody asked for about topics he’s not qualified to touch upon.
And the basic argument is this: Lying never works out.
His examples range from painfully obvious to fucking retarded. His anecdotes are like, “One time my wife didn’t like this person and said it in front of my kid and then when the person came over and the wife was acting all nice, the kid said: But mommy, u said you didn’t like that person.”
AWKWARRRRRRD.
So, in case this happens to you, don’t even fucking lie.
Yo, fuck sam harris. seriously. Lying is the number one thing that gets people where they want to go. There are like five jobs out there right now where lying does not get you ahead. And those jobs suck. Here’s a list of jobs you can’t have if you are not going to lie:
Mechanic.
Politician.
Entertainment Industry person.
Doctor.
Lawyer.
Manager of anything.
The job you currently have.
Don’t believe me?? Well then. here comes an anecdote! One time I lied about whether or not I liked someone, that person then gave me a million dollars and I’m fucking happy as hell!
See? Because it’s an anecdote, it must carry over to every aspect of my argument.
Have you ever noticed how useless anecdotes are? The only reason we like them is because human beings are constantly creating false narratives. We are pattern seekers, and anecdotes fill in the gaps when things get too complicated, like on the vast subject of lying. It’s not our fault, we just don’t have the mental capacity to take in reality as it is, and in that sense, we are lying to ourselves every minute of every day. Sam Harris should know this, he’s a fucking neuroscientist.
Here’s what the book should be called: Lying is fine, just own up to shit if it fucks you and apologize when you’re wrong or get caught. He tries to argue that it’s harder to maintain a web of lies than a web of truth. Which makes total sense because…there’s like nobody out there doing that. That would fucking stress you out. For every one friend who might appreciate you being honest about their lack of talent or ugliness, there’s ten others who will call you an asshole and won’t speak to you again. Believe me, I call people out way more than anyone I know, and I still am at like 25% truth capacity. Jesus, 100% truth would be fucking miserable. You couldn’t do anything without being punched in the face or fired.
He argues that lying erodes relationships. That’s wrong. What erodes relationships is that people are too ignorant in the first place. I know a ton of people who have cheated on their boyfriends or girlfriends and their significant other does not know about it. So, by the property of “I’m not the fucking exception,” I can safely assume at least one or two of my former girlfriends has cheated on me and I don’t know about it. This is called living in reality. Being honest isn’t going to help you in reality. Being less ignorant will.
Honesty is not a virtue. It is a tool, just like good sex, money, teamwork, and compromise to improve your life. Use it when you need to. It will not set you free. What will set you free is figuring out what the fuck you want out of life and more importantly, avoiding the shit you don’t want. That’s about it.
STAY HOT.
