The Battle Between Honesty and Deception: A Grand Debate

By Herman Kagan

Whether we like it or not, deception is something we have to deal with almost every day. We are bombarded with advertisements for great deals, but the catch is always in the fine print. Deception has become a norm but does that mean honesty has ceased to exist?

A Grand Debate takes a look at honesty versus deception by delving deeper into research done by professionals in the scientific and medical fields. Written in a conversational style, two people go head to head in a discussion to prove which is more prevalent in society today.

Who will win the final battle?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781620237557

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The Battle Between Honesty and Deception: A Grand Debate

Copyright © 2020 Herman Kagan, Ph.D.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Kagan, Herman, 1931- author.

Title: The battle between honesty and deception : a grand debate / Herman Kagan.

Description: Ocala : Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 2020. | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: A debate for the predominant disposition of humanity rages between two actors: Honesty and Deception— Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020006113 (print) | LCCN 2020006114 (ebook) | ISBN 9781620237540 (paperback) | ISBN 9781620237557 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Honesty. | Deception.

Classification: LCC BJ1533.H7 K34 2020 (print) | LCC BJ1533.H7 (ebook) | DDC 179/.9—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006113

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006114

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Table of Contents

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Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter I: The Battle Between Honesty and Deception for Prevalence

Chapter II: The Evolutionary Aspects of Honesty and Deception

Chapter III: The Battle Between Honesty and Deception for Physical and Emotional Wellbeing

Chapter IV: How Honesty and Deception Battle To Promote Mental Health

Chapter V: The Battle of Honesty and Deception For Upholding Standards, Rules, and Laws

Chapter VI: How Honesty and Deception Battle To Cover Sexuality and Mating

Chapter VII: The Use Of Honesty and Deception By Parents and Their Offspring

Chapter VIII: How Honesty and Deception Battle To Be Used By Self-membership and Hierarchic Position

Chapter IX: How The Battle Between Honesty and Deception Fit Into Leadership

Chapter X: Re-examining Extraordinary Stories That Highlight The Ongoing Battle Between Honesty and Deception

Works Cited

Preface

—

Trying to get all ideas about a subject and put them in a book is not an easy task. It takes thinking and rethinking. Letting someone else know about your ideas and asking for their opinion opens up the subject matter more than you anticipated. Well, that’s how the idea for this book got started. I had an idea that writing about deception would make good reading since we’re always exposed to deceptive practices in our society by the media and our own personal experiences.

Ponzi schemes, bank fraud, lending schemes, advertising deception, and romantic deceptive promises are some of the false practices we have been exposed to.

So I threw out my ideas to my daughter who reacted to the subject matter with some skepticism. Why, she asked, was I so devoted to deception when there is a whole world of honesty that I’m ignoring? The question registered in my brain and was difficult to put aside. It left me wondering why honesty wasn’t as relevant a subject matter, in my mind, as deception. After further discussion, I knew that she had a good argument, and I decided to write about both honesty and deception.

How to do this made me wonder a great deal since I had many stories about deception lined up and no stories about honesty. Being a cheerleader for one side and having little enthusiasm for the other would make it look like I avoided honesty in my life and didn’t know how to deal with it. So, I figured I could use two people who could debate the merits of each one, using the mind of my daughter for one and my own mind for the other. That’s what I decided on, but one has to know that trying to read her mind and portraying it as equally as my way of thinking has been a difficult balancing act.

Well, I tried to balance the debate throughout the book, and now it’s up to the readers to decide the outcome.

Acknowledgments

—

I certainly have to give my daughter, Batya, credit for opening up the subject matter from one to two subjects and being an inspiration for creating one of the debaters in the book. I hope I did well.

The other main helper for the book was my cousin, Louise Ross, who helps out with the older crowd and writes for their activities and plans. She went over each chapter, editing for misspellings, grammatical errors, and paragraph headings. She certainly made my writing better and made it easier to understand the ideas presented.

I can’t leave out my son, Ken, who is appreciative that I haven’t deteriorated to the point of not making sense any more and losing my independence. His appreciation is important for my desire and willingness to continue preserving and enhancing my identity. Let’s hope he still thinks I make sense after reading this book.

Chapter I

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The Battle Between Honesty and Deception for Prevalence

Since we’re both taking on a debate about honesty and deception, and you seem more attached to honesty, you’ll be H; and since I’m more attached to deception, I’ll be D. So let’s start.

—

D: You know, as I look around the world, I realize that deception is practiced more often than honesty.

H: That’s not true. It only seems that way because deception makes more of an impact on your mind than honesty, and deceptive practices make more headlines and more sensational stories than honest practices. Take Bernie Madoff for example––would the public find it more interesting to know that he made more profitable investments for well-heeled clients or that he has been running a Ponzi scheme worth billions and took all his clients on a financial ride to hell?

D: It’s true; in this case, Madoff’s deceptive practices grab the public’s interest more than if he had been an honest investor. But I’ll bet almost everyone cheats a little. Besides, our system rewards it if you make more money cheating a little.

So how many get away with some deception in their practice? I guess we would have to know how many honest investors compared to dishonest ones there are in the world to know if honesty or deception is practiced most often. Probably not an easy area to investigate because investors are not going to tell you about their deceptive practices.

H: If honesty were not at the foundation of our economic system, how long do you think our economy would last? I’m sure deceptive practices take place, but honest interactions are way more prevalent than dishonest or deceptive ones. The public always seeks out a trustworthy business.

D: Human society is pretty complicated, considering all the standards, rules, laws, and acceptable behavior that is expected. And kids have to learn most of them. Parents want their kids to be honest, which educational, religious, and social organizations reinforce. In general, kids try to be honest, like most adults, but what happens when everyone feels pressured? How well, then, does teaching honesty to kids really work?

H: I think kids who are taught honesty and see their parents and others practice honesty will stay honest under pressure.

D: Well, I have a story that blows a hole in that theory.

H: Okay then, go ahead and tell your story. I’m all ears.

D: I believe I was taught to be honest despite all the bullcrap kids tell each other. Anyway, when I was in the third grade and about 8 years old, I saw some teenagers smoking cigarettes, and I wanted to try it. So, on my way to school, I picked up cigarette butts off the ground and figured I would try smoking them on my way home. I lived only about four blocks from the school and walked back and forth. I put the butts in my back pocket and continued on my way to school.

Recess time rolled around, and I felt a sneeze coming on, so I reached into my back pocket for my handkerchief. When I pulled it out, the cigarette butts followed and went all over the floor. What a shock! The teacher, of whom I was very fond, looked at the mess and said that I would have to go to the principal’s office. I guess she felt that the problem was beyond her power to handle. She called the principal––Mr.Horton––and notified him of the circumstances. So, off I went to the office with my heart racing 100 miles an hour and scared to death.

When I was a kid, physical punishment in school was allowed, and the idea of child abuse was a remote concept. Mr. Horton had an endowed reputation for hitting kids, and many times, loud crying and screams could be heard coming from his office, so I figured I was in for it. I stood in front of his desk, and he asked what was going on. The story that my brain concocted and what came out of my mouth was enough to fertilize a large-sized garden.

I told him my mother smoked a bunch of cigarettes before going to work, but they were not all finished (my mother didn’t smoke). I explained that she didn’t want to leave them at home because a boarder lived in our apartment, and she wasn’t sure what he would do if he found the leftover cigarettes. So she gave them to me to hold until she got home from work, telling me to take good care of them. When she got home, I would give them back to her, so she could finish smoking them. I forgot I had them in my back pocket, and they fell out when I grabbed my handkerchief. Thank God he liked me, so he told me to be more careful next time and not carry cigarettes.

So, you see, when placed under pressure, being trained in honesty doesn’t always hold up, and our society puts a lot of people under pressure.

H: Suppose he didn’t have the reputation of hitting kids and you were not afraid of him. Then you probably would have been honest, and you could have had a discussion about smoking. So, I think honesty fits in with liking and trusting people and not being afraid to come out in the open.

Look at all the lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who are able to come out of the closet because they have the support and the trust of others. Like it is said, Honesty is the best policy.

D: That’s a good phrase but not for the people who got in trouble or were punished for being honest. I heard a lot of stories from my friends about their treatment for being honest, and it always wasn’t the best policy.

Like one day when we were about 8 years old, I saw Jason with his hand bandaged up, and I asked what happened. He told me that he had taken some money from his