下面是出国留学网英语频道整理的BBC News：加拿大著名节目主持人遭解雇，欢迎阅读。
Is Lying a Good Strategy?
说谎是个好策略吗
Everybody lies. But for the most part, we still see ourselves as good, honest people. So, why do we do it—and are we all just kidding ourselves?
所有人都会说谎。但大多数情况下，我们仍认为自己是虔诚的、诚实的人。那么问题来了：我们为什么会这样——难道只是在开自己的玩笑吗?
[Daniel Ariely:] “So, is lying or being dishonest irrational? Sometimes. Sometimes not.”
“说谎或不诚实是非理性的吗?有时是。有时不是。”
Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, at Duke Univeristy, studies irrational behavior. In recent years, he has found himself drawn to mendacity, prevarication, fabrication—you know, lying.
丹•艾瑞里，来自杜克大学研究非理性行为的行为经济学家。近年来，他发现自己被谎言、搪塞、造假——即撒谎——所吸引。
Now Ariely has teamed up with documentarian Yael Melamede to create a film called“(Dis)Honesty.” Through a series of interviews, the movie presents real world cases of cheating, corruption and little white lies alongside Ariely’s scientific findings.
现在艾瑞里联手纪录片制片人雅艾尔·梅拉梅德共同创建了一部名叫《(不)诚实》的电影。通过一系列的采访并伴随着艾瑞里的科研成果，这部电影为大家呈现了欺骗、贪腐和一些善意谎言的真实案例。
In the process, it becomes clear that the differences between serious fraud and a minor fib may be less significant than we want to believe.
在此过程中，有一点越来越明确：撒大谎和撒小谎之间的差异其实并没有我们想象的那么严重。
“Originally, we were going to call the movie ‘Slippery Slope,’ because so many people basically started doing something, rationalized, took another step, another step…”
“最开始的时候我们想要叫这部电影《滑坡效应》，因为很多人从最初开始撒谎、接着在为之前的行为找借口、然后就越陷越深、越陷越深。”
Our knack for explaining and reinterpreting our actions allows us to feel like we are still basically honest, no matter how far we stray from our values. But just because we can rationalize our dishonesty does not mean we’re acting rationally. Fudging the facts might, for example, get you through one tricky situation, but the repercussions may make your life harder later on.
不管我们偏离了自身的价值观多远，我们解释及诠释自身行为的本领会让我们自以为自己基本上还是诚实的。但是，我们可以使自身不诚实的行为合理化并不意味着我们的行为就是理性的。例如，捏造事实能让你度过一个棘手的境况，但它的影响可能会使你之后的生活更加艰难。
“That’s not a rational path.”
“这并非一个理性之路。”
So the next time you’re offered what seems like an easy way out by lying, consider that you could just be lying—to yourself.
所以下次当你将撒谎作为替自己解围的捷径之时，不妨想想你是否只是在自欺欺人。
