When asked for the truth, many of us take the middle road, selectively revealing some facts and leaving out others; creating the impression or illusion of a bigger picture that isn’t quite accurate.
Technically, it is possible to be forthcoming about the facts, but only in precisely measured quantities and careful arrangements with other facts, so that the reader or listener is left imagining a story that is more fiction than reality. This type of creative storytelling is at the center of today’s social discourse, to be found in politics, legal proceedings, news media, social media, and within our personal relationships.
Have we become like magicians to one another, hiding important truths through the use of misdirection? Has the “white” or “gray” lie become the status quo of human interaction, priming us for even darker lies?
© 2021 David M. Rubin. All rights reserved.
Notes from David 