Do you lie?

 Do you lie ?

Ofcourse not most people would say, others might say sometimes. Very few will have the honesty to say I do. Even if we  don’t  lie we 

deceive. People use slippery words to manipulate others. They will use ambiguous words to mislead you. Justin D Ambrosio, a philosopher calls it manipulative under specification. This is when  someone leaves their answer open without committing. It’s the other person to interpret it. 

For example if I ask you are you coming for tonight’s party, you may say I’ll try my best. It’s not a yes but it’s not a no. So if you don’t go you can always say I tried but couldn’t make it. If you go it’s fine. 

Politicians do it all the time. They shout let’s make this country great again. But what they mean by great is left for people to think. Freedom of speech is a term which is used the most in this manipulative under specification. When politicians themselves say freedom of speech, they don’t specify that only they have the right to that. 

Most of us are guilty of this charge. We under specify because it gives us the freedom of denial. If something goes wrong we say that’s not what I meant. You can say underspecifying can save ugly situations some time. It could be true in some cases but it will sooner or later end up in an argument trust me. Sometimes there is a genuine situation where you actually can’t give straight answer. That is okay. However if you do it often people start to doubt every time you say something. You get a reputation of someone who can’t be trusted. Like politicians. 

Then comes the question of morality and integrity. That is the topic for another day. 

So do you under specify? Ask your self and can you do something about it? 

Have the courage to be specific. 

So be it !!!