Deception
A) How are the contexts and deceptions different?
In the two articles, "Lying for Love in the Modern Age, Deception in Online Dating" and "Exoneration of Serious Wrongdoing via Confession to a Lesser Offense," the two authors describe different ways in which people lie to one another in the modern world. The major difference between the two presented categories of deception is the way in which it affects others. "Lying for Love in the Modern Age, Deception in Online Dating" deals with how human beings lie to one another in a romantic context. The online age has made it easier for potential partners to win over another person without having to be honest about anything in their lives. When a person signs up for an online dating site, or goes into a chat room, they present themselves to the audience in a certain way which can very well have no similarity to their true selves. They can give themselves credentials and a new job, a new physique and attach a Google image to complete the picture. There is no way for the person communicating with that individual to know whether or not the image that they present is the truth or not, until they meet face-to-face by which time it is possible that an emotional investment may have been made. The second article, "Exoneration of Serious Wrongdoing via Confession to a Lesser Offense" deals with an altogether different form of deception. This is about when a person has committed a crime or some other form of wrongdoing. Instead of confessing to the proper titled crime, people will often plead down to a lesser crime so that they will spend less time in prison or have to pay a lesser fine. One such example is when a person has committed a murder and they will plead to manslaughter because the penalty is less severe. This way, the person is confessing to responsibility for an action, but they are not admitting the whole truth about their crimes because they wish to avoid as much punishment as possible.
B) How are these contexts and deceptions alike?
In the two articles "Lying for Love in the Modern Age, Deception in Online Dating" and "Exonerations of Serious Wrongdoing via Confessions to a Lesser Offense," the authors describe different types of deception which occur and are perpetrated for altogether different reasons but which are similar in form. There is a degree of similarity that occurs between the two types of deception discussed in the articles. Each is a deception which is based on a false representation of the self for the benefit of the person who is perpetrating the deception. In the first article, the people online choose to lie about who they are in order to win over the person who they are corresponding with either in a chat room or on some dating website. There is an option to speak the truth about yourself, but the less appealing you are the less likely it is that you will find someone willing to engage in discourse. Therefore in this setting, the person wants to make themselves seem the most enticing which leads to exaggerations or outright lies about their real identity, personality, and physical characteristics. The second article deals with men and women who also intentionally misrepresent themselves in order to achieve something at the expense and with the mistrust of others. In occasions where they are being investigated from criminal conduct, it is in the best interest of the individual to make themselves seem as innocent as possible. These persons tell the prosecutors, the judges, and the jury anything and everything which will make them seem sympathetic. People will modify the truth in order to save themselves. By falsifying the truth about themselves and their actions it is possible to receive a lighter sentence and to have a life beyond their current state. In each case, the subject benefits by being deceptive, often at the disadvantage or disinterest of...
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