§   DEFINITION

Falsification – this is another name for a lie, the ultimate form of distortion.
 

The ultimate form of distortion is the all-out lie.  Readers must trust authors to present facts that are valid, provable, and accurately reported.  Any effort to change a fact results in a distorted representation of that information.
 

FOR  YOUR  INFORMATION   

Although lying is considered acceptable by some people, listeners and readers cannot defend themselves against another person’s lie.  We can prepare to be punched, shot, and criticized, but we have no control over a lie — unless we have evidence that proves someone wrong.  A lie is intended to fool the audience in order to win an argument.  The liar, however, does not really “win” the argument since he argued on unfair terms.  Remember that the purpose of an argument is to gain knowledge about a disputed truth.  A lie is never utilized to seek a higher understanding, but rather to undercut an opponent where he is defenseless.
 

EXAMPLE 1

A statement on a résumé reads: “I am a 4.00 student.”

We must take this person’s word for this, right?  What if the employer were to request this applicant’s school record and discover that this applicant had actually earned only a 3.50, not a 4.00 GPA?  He might claim that he was “rounding up” to make him look better, but there is no logical excuse for misrepresenting a fact.  As an employer, we should not hire this person because he has proven his untrustworthiness.  Although we cannot unfairly assume that this person will lie about facts in the future, we also cannot be impressed by his underhanded scheme to unfairly get the job.

 
EXAMPLE 2

A sly Little Leaguer, whose batted ball broke the neighbor’s window, says: “I didn’t break the neighbor’s window.”

The boys in this example are lying, and they will probably only buckle under when the neighbor calls the parents, the police … or the FBI.  One of the boys might be thinking, “Technically, the ball broke the window — I didn’t touch the window.”  This is clearly an example of distortion, only reason fallacy, equivocation, and invincible ignorance … as well as a lie.  The other boy may defend his statement by suggesting that he was “partially” correct in identifying the ball as the culprit, not the batter swinging for a home run.  Even if this is the case, we must consider a half-truth just as distracting and damaging as a fully hatched lie.  It does not promote a fair argument to discover truth.