I think that we can all agree that our world is full of both lies and truth. The nature of the lies and the nature of the truth in question may vary but essentially we have lies and truth. It would be a lie for me to say that I know the thoughts you are thinking right now in the same way that it would be a lie for you to say that you know what you’ll be doing 50 years from this moment. It is absolutely true that 2+2=4 and it’s also true that it’s morally wrong to lie.

The power of a lie believed is rather profound. If you believed that if you stepped out of your house that you would be blinded by the sun, you would probably never step outside your house. If you believed that trusting people would only get you hurt and rejected, you would probably never trust anyone. A lie believed has all the power in the world and I believe that this is where we get the saying that “perception is reality.” 

This is where each one of us must take moral inventory to assess what we believe. If you believe lies about someone else’s character that you didn’t have the diligence to debunk and you therefore never begin a relationship with that person, imagine how much you might be missing. What we believe and what we don’t believe shapes our limited existence on this planet. That being said, it’s been my experience that most people don’t put a whole lot of thought into what they do and don’t believe. We need to force ourselves into relationships and contexts that challenge us to reexamine our beliefs. We only get one shot at this thing and it’d be a shame if we wasted it believing ideas or notions that simply aren’t true.