Radical Honesty

Can you really be honest all of the time?

Most people lie.

According to a recent survey, we bend the truth an average of 1.65 times a day.

We tell lubricating lies to keep the conversation moving, such as when we say, "I'm doing fine." We tell logistical lies such as "I'll be there soon." We tell charitable lies such as "Of course that doesn't make you look fat."

You probably saw the GEICO commercial in which the honesty of Abraham Lincoln was sorely tested. Mary Todd Lincoln stands in front of him and asks, "Does this dress make my backside look big?"

After an awkward pause, Honest Abe answers truthfully. His wife walks off in a huff.

Of course, most day-to-day lies do not rise to the level of the whopper told by a postal carrier named Cathy Wrench Cashwell. According to The Atlantic magazine (September 2013), she appeared on the show The Price Is Right, raised her arms, grabbed the wheel and gave it a spin.

So what was the problem with that? Five years earlier, she had filed for workers' compensation, claiming that she had been...