Lying By Omission – Is It Really Lying?

Hello, my dear Steemians! Here I am again on the subject of lying. This time talking about omission, something we all do on a daily basis but are – for good reasons – divided when comparing it to straightforward lying.

There is a fine line when omitting details that, if crossed, turns those initially harmless non-existent words into tools or even weapons aimed at the victims of some sort of con. Such examples could be a salesman not telling the customers that the items they want to buy are missing essential parts that they just assumed are there, or someone dressed as a doctor or nurse in a hospital offering advice to patients – probably bad advice – and basically harming them for the fun of it.

I can fortunately say that I have never been a victim of such scams, but I do pay very much attention to everything I do and I suggest you do the same. However, I have been a victim of click-bait countless times. And I am not a very gullible person, it's just that type of click-bait that makes you think a video or post is about something you are really interested in but turns out that is the only thing missing. I fucking hate click-bait!

I do not condemn half-truths though. If someone does not specifically ask you about it and you are not hurting anyone, omitting parts of the story should be perfectly acceptable. I'm sure everyone "forgets" to mention some embarrassing details in their daily conversations.

And many times it is much more convenient and less time consuming than to spill everything. Take job interviews for example: after a long day of job hunting, when asked why you want that job, you may say that it is something you are good at, or that you can see yourself becoming one of the best employees, but you will definitely not mention that you have been rejected by other companies or that you would prefer working somewhere else.

Should a person that completely trusts you expect that you will never forget to tell them everything? What if you omit telling them something in order to protect them? Does that mean you broke their trust? The answer probably varies across the world, across cultures, age, personalities and even time. Everyone has their own understanding of trust and might react very differently to the exact same situation.

Does trust actually mean always telling the truth, though? Or should trusting someone also mean trusting that they will know when to shut up or even lie to you? I would like to think so. Others might disagree. But trust goes both ways, therefore the other person should have the same opinion.

Some could even argue that omitting certain information has the same consequences as stealing and should be dealt with accordingly. After all, we live in a world where information is the most valuable currency. Any missing detail can influence the value of goods, companies, even people.

What is your take on this? Let me know in the comment section below.