Cheating is circumventing or violating legal or moral rules, pretending to respect them, in order to take unfair advantage of them. Cheating is everywhere: we have all heard of scandals that have splashed the world of sport, business, politics, etc. Many of us would also have cheated at least once during our school years… In short, if cheating seems to be part of human nature, it can take many forms and have varying degrees of severity.
That being said, we often discuss ways to prevent it, particularly in the educational system, but much less so about the reasons behind it. So let’s dive in: why are we cheating? Here are some avenues to better understand this complex phenomenon.
Lying and cheating are distinct ,while cheating involves lying. However, lying is an integral part of human nature, and even of the child’s good development. Canadian researchers (Talwar and Lee) have established in this regard that the ability to lie unfolds during childhood in three phases: the so-called “primary” lie occurs around the age of two or three, while toddlers are able to make statements that they know are false; the “secondary” lie appears around the age of four, when children are able to distinguish their thinking from that of others and are therefore aware that they can fool their interlocutor; as for the “tertiary” lie, it manifests itself around the age of seven or eight, becoming more credible because of the development of logical thinking at this “age of reason.”
Since reasoning (with your mind or heart) does not always prevail in the adult world, sometimes “man is a wolf to man.” In extreme circumstances, lying to deceive the enemy can save one’s skin. To this end, many survivors of the greatest disasters in history—think of wars and genocides—have testified to it. If human beings can use lies as a survival reflex, they can also turn them into real art, as is the case with theatre or, on a more cynical note, politics…
Finally, it should be noted that if a majority of us have already committed some “ordinary” lies—punctual, harmless and practical—lying maliciously or repeatedly is the concern of a minority and is often attributable to a psychiatric condition. Mythomania, which translates into a compulsion to lie without necessarily being aware of it, is undoubtedly the best known of them. Some brain diseases or lesions can also be the cause of fabulations!!
- igprasad
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