The famous South African psychoanalyst Edna O'Shaughnessy reasoned that if psychoanalysis is based on frankness, when treating a habitual liar, his truth would be deception, since he requires a waxed persuasion of falsehood to be himself.
However, if distorting is his natural frequency, the paradox could arise that by being honest he would contradict the hypothesis that he is not telling the truth, leaving it up in the air to know how much truth there is in what he expresses and how much there is not.
If we ignore the pathological manifestations, lying is not monolithic.
In reality it has many dimensions, as many as there are underground purposes, since it is not those who do not tell the truth who lie, but those who say what they know is not true.
From false testimony or exaggeration to the minimization of events or the omission of information.
The inventory is huge.
There is no doubt that distorted truth is geared for a purpose;
usually pursues a goal.
If we undertake lying as a voluntary deception, contrary to one's own conscience, situations such as the fake smile or simulated astonishment, which even though false, are granted out of courtesy, would remain in no man's land.
There are those who consider aesthetic touch-ups and even makeup to mock reality, despite the fact that some people have an identity manifestly subordinated to their way of dressing, combing their hair or defining their look by painting their eyes.
The psychologist María Jesús Álava Reyes points out in her essay
The Truth of Lies
that in essence we all lie daily and those who do it the least accumulate one or two deceptions per day.
A little more so if it involves trying to preserve intact the fragile mental image we have of ourselves, something known in psychology as cognitive dissonance.
Resolving discrepancies between held ideas and beliefs or behaviors often requires a modicum of self-cooperation to reduce potential internal disagreements.
Apparently, 65% of Spaniards say they care about leading a healthy life;
However, many of these sleepless nights usually end in an assortment of extravagant justifications in order not to jeopardize the excuses that accompany the lack of physical exercise.
Furthermore, many citizens who claim that they are concerned about the fate of local kilometer zero products, the situation caused by climate change, animal welfare, the increase in childhood obesity or the restriction of artificial ingredients avoid all this by pursuing the discounts and promotions on the shelves, even if you can't do it.
They are the apparently contradictory behaviors of self-deception that responds as we socially believe it should be done.
Although, on the one hand, there is concern about the abandonment of the traditional diet, on the other hand, domestic meals are simplified, reduced to a single dish, if not giving way to the consumption of preparations and home delivery orders.
The consistency is such that 90% of what is marketed as Spanish saffron is produced in other countries.
As an example, it must be recognized that the production of DO La Mancha, which is mostly exported, if distributed among the country's population, would correspond to 0.01 grams per inhabitant, while it is estimated that the average consumption of annual ketchup is 450 grams.
And if this is the case with respect to oneself, with respect to third parties, the reactions are, if possible, more asymmetrical.
Presumably, that is why many people are not entirely honest when they answer a survey about lifestyle habits.
We like to project a positive image even though the survey is anonymous.
This is what is known as biased social desirability.
The Austrian psychologist Alfred Adler maintained that a lie would have no meaning if the truth were not perceived as dangerous.
And if we think about it carefully, few acts have exposed us as much throughout evolution as eating.
That must be it.
artichoke salad
You can follow EL PAÍS Gastro
on
and
X.