As long as we’re on the subject of truth-telling, we should give a little attention to those among us who are regular liars. I’ve run into a few at work who consistently lie and never admit that they have. But those of us who work with them know them to be consistent liars.

I’m never sure whether these liars just don’t see that they’re lying, whether they have distorted reality to such an extent as to think they are telling the truth. Or do they know that they are lying and figure they won’t be challenged.

I suspect that liars really don’t recognize that they are lying. I think that they twist reality to their own devices and go with it. Or maybe they have bad memory and so they “remember” things in a way as to fit the future situation.

Thing is, nobody gets called out for lying. Since the things that most people lie about are subject to interpretation the liar is seldom challenged and more reasonable people are willing to let the situation drop instead of challenging the liar.

Thus without a challenge, the liar goes on lying and probably frequently benefits from having done so.