Don’t threaten with Pinocchio’s nose.

I refuse to join in the verbal punishment of Tony Abbott for admitting that he sometimes tells untruths. My research this morning tells me that if a child confesses, I should thank him for telling me the truth. So thank you Tony for being so frank on the 7.30 Report. I understand that the academic studies show that if kids are only punished for lying, they will be more likely to lie in the future. Not for me to start telling you punishment stories like how Pinocchio’s nose grows longer when he lies. I’ve got the message that yarns with an ending that shows truth-telling as a good thing appear more effective at damping lying than fear.
So let me tell the Leader of the Opposition not to worry about the mock indignation this morning that has greeted his truthfulness about his lying. We the people understand because we all do it and we know that politicians are no different than the rest of us. Whether we’re two years old or 62, I read in the Wall Street Journal recently, our reasons for lying are mostly the same: to get out of trouble, for personal gain and to make ourselves look better in the eyes of others.
That definition seems to fit political lying pretty well. And I noted in that Wall Street Journal article that the ability to lie — and lie successfully — is thought to be related to development of brain regions that allow so-called “executive functioning,” or higher order thinking and reasoning abilities. That’s not a bad thing for a leader to have.

Comments

Oh My Goodness - an honest politician?


I have often been heard to ask ‘show me an honest politician please’ …. Implying non exist! Tony Abbott has shown me how wrong a person can be. He has also shown to the Australian people, that no matter how much angst and bad mouthing is being thrown at him by Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labour Party – he can hold his head up high, because he has told the truth.

http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/05/where-truth-lies.html
john said…
That research is about the rates of cognitive developement in toddlers. I hope we can hold a potential Prime Minister to a slightly higher standard than a baby.

Also, the fact that he admitted to making things up to win an argument does not seem promising when you consider that he'll be involved in international negotiations, and negotiations with business, where he'll almost definiately be under more pressure than he was on the 7.30 Report.

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