The Truth About Falsehood

Forrest has admitted he is prone to exaggeration. (I'm hoping I'm correct on this and not committing an honest lie). We all are, depending on the time and circumstance.

Some people have insinuated that Forrest has maliciously and purposely lied. The purpose of this post is to assert that  he has not maliciously lied, or even maliciously deceived. He wants us to work for the answer, and that means finding the correct context. The truth is in front of you, but is cleverly hidden in words and context. In my opinion, of course.

So, I did some research on exaggeration and falsehoods in general, and was pretty surprised.

Did you know how many types of falsehoods there are? There's like a million different kinds (exaggeration). 

We all employ some of these falsehoods in everyday life without even knowing it. I'll go over a few with you.

First, let's talk about the honest lie. It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? But you and I probably commit this kind of falsehood every day when we communicate. Especially when we talk about the chase. There are so many quotes and bits of information to remember that sometimes, without having your five thousand spreadsheets (exaggeration, or maybe not!) laid out before you, you misquote something Forrest has said. I've done it. Even Dal might have done it (I don't know that for sure). I believe those are honest lies. We didn't intend to mislead, and we weren't aware at the time that we spoke false.

Now, let's talk about the famous ball of string. It could be an exaggeration, which is stretching the truth. The fundamental basis of the story is true, but it has been stretched to convey a more powerful meaning. Forrest may have collected the string, but in the retelling of the story, the string grew to such a size in a year so as not to be able to fit out  his bedroom door. Now, for that to be completely true, Forrest either lived in a mouse hole, the three strings a day were several feet long, or the strings were not literal strings. We know Forrest loved to collect things, but did he really create a ball of string so large in one year that it couldn't fit out his bedroom door?  I think that may be an exaggeration, where he exaggerates with the purpose to convey a more powerful and meaningful story. Of course, I'm not Forrest, so this is supposition on my part. 

I'm glad you didn't collect eyeballs, Forrest.

Jedidiah Smith was famous for another kind of falsehood--the jocose lie, or tall tale. These were falsehoods purposely told to provide humor, and it was usually understood by the audience that the story wasn't exactly the truth, despite the teller swearing up and down it was. I can imagine old Jed sitting by the fire saying that while being chased by 420 Injuns on horseback, he jumped into a deep crick, and just before the tomahawk came down on his scalp, a family of giant beavers swam up, grabbed him by his britches and carried him to the safety of their dam, which was set up like a mansion. And then he had cherry pie with the beaver family while the Injuns stomped around on dry ground, scratching their heads in bewilderment.

Jedidiah just before he was separated from his friends, chased by Indians, and ate pie with the Beaver family.

Then, there's the noble lie, which I'm not too familiar with, yet I know it happens. I think the government may think of their lies as "noble," but I'm not sure I buy into that. A noble lie is a lie told maintain calm and order, when if the truth was known, all hell could break loose. A parent thinks they're telling their child a noble lie when they say a shot won't hurt. However, that's not the truth. Shots do hurt, some more than others, depending on the type of shot and the child's pain tolerance. And the result of that noble lie is that the child loses a bit of trust in the parent, which makes them less noble. That's why parents are now encouraged to tell kids the truth, but maybe not the whole truth. "It'll pinch, but will only last a couple seconds." 

If this is a cat, it's doing what cats do best. It might be a rabbit, though.

I wonder what "noble lies" the government feeds us on a daily basis. We know there have been many noble lies exposed in the past (Vietnam, JFK's close call with nuclear war), with the same result on the American public as on those kids who were told shots don't hurt. We've lost trust. 

WHAT?! Marco! Tokyo! Did you REALLY just say that?

Bill Clinton attempted the falsehood known as the "cover up" with Monica Lewinsky. I don't judge Bill for doing what he did. I don't know what his circumstances were, as I wasn't there. Still, it doesn't mask the fact he attempted a cover up. The truth was bound to come out, though. Body language experts know the picture below is a classic sign of a lie--pointing one way and looking another.

I think women who cover themselves with make-up to give the impression of something they're not is a bald-faced (or bare-faced) lie. It seems contradictory, doesn't it, that masking the truth on your face is called "bare-faced." I don't wear much makeup, if any, because I've been told I don't need it, and also because I've always had a strong inclination to be "real." My motto has always been, "What you see is what you get," with me. Well, I will admit I like the blind highlights in my hair.

All natural...waking up with a smile.

However, I could tell you right now that I dated Drew Carey last night, and that is not entirely false, Maybe it's a half-truth, because he was my boyfriend in my dream last night, which totally baffles me. What in the world am I hiding within myself that I would picture myself with the host of The Price is Right? Don't get me wrong, I like Drew Carey. I've heard he's a nice guy, and I admire his determination to get healthy, and I think he's pretty funny. But not who I'd normally picture myself dating. I actually laughed out loud when I woke up. By the way, Drew Carey, if you Google yourself and happen to read this, I would probably love to go on a date with you. But I think we can skip the beach exercise sessions with the audience of your daytime game show (now, isn't THAT an ambiguous statement!).

The last falsehood I'll mention (this may need to be a two-parter) is the contextual lie. That's where someone states the truth out of context, which leads to a false impression, but is not a technical falsehood. It's sort of like we talked about yesterday with ambiguity. I feel the poem may be a contextually ambiguous work. Pretty ingenious! Like "canyon down." If you fail to search out the context, you're led to believe "down" means literally "down." So many of us find that canyon on the map, and take the canyon "down," not realizing that "down" is a noun and may mean something completely different.

Oh, there is so much more! Like the Haystack Answer, the Weasel Word equivocation), the Butler Lie, the Polite Lie, and deflection. I think I will make this a two-parter. 

If only the "needle" were this big!

So, the question is...has Forrest lied to us? NO. He has probably exaggerated, probably been purposely contextually ambiguous, but he has not lied. In my opinion, he's trying to convey a deeper purpose, a deeper meaning to those of us who are willing to work for it.

Stay tuned for some good info...