Truth and Deception

• Describe a specific example from any area of knowledge (AOK, eg, the arts, history, economics, psychology, mathematics, business), where you feel that deception may be necessary to knowing. The example may or may not relate to your direct personal experience, but make your views as a knower clear; it may be the case that person(s) involved in the example you relate have a different perspective on truth and deception than you do.

There are many different times when deception is necessary in order to know the truth. In mathematics the teacher often deceives the students in order that they learn something and understand it completely. In math a teacher will often teach the students a rule and tell them that this rule is always true and to learn it and live by it. But then later on the teacher will tell the students that that rule is not necessarily always true and that really there are a lot of exceptions to the rule. There is a very good reason for this deception. If the teacher did not deceive the students and told them that there are tons of exceptions to the rule, then the students may get lost or discouraged and in the end not learn anything. The teacher deceive the students for their own benefits, and so that they actually learn something. Another example of deception where it is necessary is when talking to little kids. One time where you would lie and deceive a little kid is with Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, etc. During Christmas time a parent will tell little kids that Santa is coming, and the lies become their truths and they fully believe that Santa Clause is real. In reality, there is no Santa Clause and it is all just for fun and makes things seem magical for the kids. But eventually the lie must come to an end and some one tells the children that Santa is not real. Everyone finds it out differently, some children figure it out for themselves, some people have someone slip it to them, and others have their parents break it to them in a calming manner. Without the deception of Santa Clause children would never know what it is like to believe in something as magical as Santa Clause, and during the time where children believe in Santa they do not know that they are being deceived because from their knowledge it is the truth that Santa is real.