Many people know the story about George Washington’s honesty. As a little boy, George chopped down a cherry tree with his shiny new axe. When confronted by his father, he immediately admitted his guilt, stating, “I cannot tell a lie.” However, many historians believe this never happened, so the tale itself is a lie!

Children are often told, “Honesty is the best policy.” They are taught that lying is highly unethical. Once someone conceives of you as a liar, you may lose their trust forever. Everything you say to that person from then on may seem suspicious. Lying is not just unethical; it is also bad for your reputation. Nonetheless, research shows that people lie frequently and that about half of lies are not detected. 

Sometimes, people lie to benefit themselves. A person might lie and say they were late because of bad traffic, when they actually just forgot to set their alarm for that morning. Or perhaps a student lies and says they wrote a paper themselves, when they actually had a chatbot write it. Other times people lie, not for themselves, but to protect someone’s feelings. For example, what do you do if a friend asks if you like her new haircut, and you don’t? What if your parent spends hours cooking, and then you hate the meal? Lying in these situations is rationalized as polite and helpful for protecting relationships. 

Some lies can have serious consequences. For example, the leaders of Boeing, a company that manufactures planes, misled people by claiming that their planes were safe. In truth, Boeing’s leaders were aware that there was a safety risk. Two Boeing planes crashed before the truth was uncovered. Most people agree that lying is generally bad and that what Boeing did was wrong. But many people also think small, polite lies are ethical. So, where do we draw the line on when a lie is okay?

Let’s consider an example. Imagine that your friend Jared showed you a hunting knife that his grandfather had given him. You promised not to tell anyone he had it, because knives aren’t allowed at school. You agreed to keep his secret because you knew how proud the knife made him. However, later the knife was found on the playground. Your teacher asked you, “Do you know whose knife this is?” How would you answer? Would you lie to protect your friend? Or would you tell your teacher, which means you broke your promise to Jared about keeping his secret? When is it okay to lie?