Poll: is omission lying? the poll by gender!

[atombeast707]

me and my mom got into a heated debate today about whether or not omission is lying or not. i said it wasn't, thought it is not always morally right, and she said that it is.

so, is it? and for sake of experimentation, i have included a gender portion. no lying about it now, ya hear?

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

I agree with you i don't see it as lying

 

[Motti]

omission isn't lying as long as you don't pretend you don't know something. If nobody brought it up and you didn't mention it, then no. However if someone asked you a question you knew the answer to and you said "i don't know," that would be lying (and the only option here would be to just say nothing/change the subject).

 

[Lineoutt]

Who's "omission" and what did they say? :S

EDIT: Oh wait, you mean the word. Okay then. No, but its mean.

 

[Kialee]

Omission is only lying if it's a deliberate attempt to mislead someone.
Unless I'm totally missing the point here, anyway.

 

[Omikron009]

Omission isn't lying. It's just not telling the whole truth.

 

[Kollega]

Deliberate omission is lying. Unintended omission, AKA "you didn't ask", is just a misundertanding.

 

[Murdering Monk]

Naa. I don't see it as lying.

 

[Estocavio]

Omission isn't lying. It's just not telling the whole truth.

Exactly - Omission cant be a lie since it isnt saying anything untrue - It can be used to enhance the truth however, which still isnt telling a lie.

 

[Verlander]

"In Catholic teaching an omission is a failure to do something one can and ought to do"- No lies involved

 

[Betancore]

Well I reckon it's misleading, but not outright a lie because you're not really telling an untruth. But when the intention is to make the person think one thing even though the truth is another, then to me it still isn't the most ethical thing to do.

 

[Queen Michael]

Tell you're mom that "lying" means "saying something untrue". It's only lying if you say "it is so" when it is not so or if you say "it is not so" when it is so. Of course, omission is still dishonest when you're trying to make somebody believe that which is not true. But lies always involve stating something that is not true.

 

[fletch_talon]

I'm curious as to how relevant this question is to the situation.
Was there a reason you were arguing semantics with your mother? because regardless of whether it counts as lying or not (it doesn't), omitting the truth is generally just as bad.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Who's "omission" and what did they say? :S

EDIT: Oh wait, you mean the word. Okay then. No, but its mean.

replace edit with OP and you'll look funny.

OT: No, it's not lying. It's not telling the whole truth but it's not lying.

 

[Agent_Nahmen_Jayden]

I don't feel omitting information is lying, though it doesn't make it right to omit things that are important. Was your mother arguing that omitting was lying or bad? Because it is bad (in some cases not all). It just is not lying. Although lying is bad and something that is bad can be attributed to a lie. So maybe by "omission is lying" she meant "omission is bad" and it was all a misunderstanding.

Or maybe I'm over thinking this too much and I need to go to bed.

 

[Keepitclean]

Omission isn't lying but it can be used to deceive.

Defintion of lie - tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive;

 

[Queen Michael]

Omission isn't lying but it can be used to deceive.

Defintion of lie - tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive;

Exactly. If omission is lying, than everything we say is a lie since there is always something we don't say.

 

[Estarc]

It isn't a lie - a lie is a falsehood, a deliberate distortion of the truth. Not saying something isn't a lie, though it isn't morally right either, as you say.

 

[twcblaze]

No, I don't believe omission is lying, but maybe that's just my way of painting myself as a slightly more morally upright person in my own mind