Reference no: EM132529439
Question for the Portfolio Reading Set: The Slippery Slope of Lying
Context:
In 1978, Sisela Bok claimed, "After the first lies [...], others can come more easily. Psychological barriers wear down; lies seem more necessary, less reprehensible; the ability to make moral distinctions can coarsen; the liar's perception of his chances of being caught may warp (8)." In 2017, Garret et al. reported on the results of their neurology experiment, "[T]he extent to which participants engage in self-serving dishonesty increases with repetition" (10). They concluded that the amygdala (a part of the brain that regulates emotions) adapts to continuing dishonesty, which allows a person to be increasingly dishonest without feeling bad about it (Garret et al, 10).
Write an essay that addresses both of the following questions:
What are the processes by which people develop into liars (as described and explained in the reading set)? Based on your explanation of these processes, how could individuals and/or societies be protected from being deceived?
It would be a good idea to do the following:
• Use ideas and facts from the reading set while also relying upon your own logic. For example, you might agree with or disagree with an author and give your reasoning. Or, you might choose to emphasize the importance of one idea while diminishing the importance of another, with an explanation of why you are valuing the ideas in this way.
• Make connections between the readings. Although the authors' approaches are different, you will find parallels between them. For example, you could identify points of agreement and disagreement, or you could point out that they are reaching similar conclusions by different methods or logic.
• Define and employ key terms that seem to be central to the arguments of your sources and, therefore, to your argument as well. Here are some possible key terms: co-operative behavior; freeloading; centrality of truthfulness; skepticism and determinism; discrepant perspectives; Golden Rule; principle of veracity; and self-harming and other-serving dishonesty vs self-serving and other-harming dishonesty.
APA referencing