Deception --- In depth.
So, what is deception? The definiton of the base word "deceive" I take straight from Google:
Verb:
- (of a person) Cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, typically in order to gain some personal advantage.
- (of a thing) Give a mistaken impression: "the area may seem to offer nothing of interest, but don't be deceived".
There are many forms of deception, as you may well know, and not all of them are bad. Remember Santa Claus? The Easter Bunny? If you celebrate Christmas and Easter, your parents most likely made you believe in these icons as a child to get you more enthusiatic about those holidays. The "naughty list" was their personal advantage; it was a threat they could use to get you to behave during the holiday season. They also liked to see your face light up when on Christmas morning you saw how many presents you got from "Santa". But, when you get to be a certain age, you either stop being naive or your parents break the news to you. Some take it pretty lightly, and others, well, not so much. (I took it just fine, haha.) If you were a firm believer in these icons, you probably took the news pretty harshly or maybe even denied it. Why? Because you were so convinced, and you really didn't want to face the reality of something you believed in for the first 8-10 years of your life.
Another form of deception is lying to someone if it necessary in order to accomplish a goal. In Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion, main character Lelouch Lamperogue deceives many in order to create a new world where his younger sister Nunnally can live happily. (Totally stole part of that line XD) So how does he do it? Well, he receives a special thing from a girl/witch person called Geass, which gives him the power to make people obey him when he stares into their eyes. With this power he is able to lead a double life: one as a Britannian school boy, and the other as a commander of an army in the opposing force (Elevens/Japanese) called Zero. He deceives many, or makes others believe in his lies, in order to accomplish his goals without blowing his cover for either side. It's an excellent anime, and it helped me understand the whole concept of deception a bit better. I suggest you check it out.
Here's a controversial topic: is religion a deception? There are countless religions out there, but only one is "right" or "true". Atheists, who don't believe in a God, believe people who follow a religion are only deceived into believing in an afterlife lead by a divine being or beings who created us by others. Well, no matter how much controversy there is over it, one thing is remotely clear: there are no guarantees. No one will know whether or not their religion is a comforting lie until they die.
The easiest way to deceive someone is through the internet. Some people communicate with others under different names, ages, genders, or through different appearances to get what they want. If they aren't lying about their name, age, gender, or appearance, they could be lying about their feelings or intentions. What do I mean by that? People are used by others online as social experiments, to make them feel good about themselves, to gain the attention they can't get in their physical world at the time, and sometimes just for a laugh. Being on both sides of this example, I know how it feels to not feel remorse after deceiving someone I met online, and also how it feels to feel powerless after being deceived by someone I met online. I guess how much it hurts depends on how attached you get, though.
So, you've made it to the bottom. Do you feel accomplished? I sure do, this thing took me like 5 hours. But it was worth it. Haha. Lesson being, don't be naive. Be careful of who you trust and don't become too attached to someone before you meet them face to face. HYPOCRISY, I know. However, I speak from experience so that you all can learn from my mistakes. I'm gonna go get ready for summer gym for tomorrow and play some Animal Crossing on the DS (Anyone play New Leaf yet?) so I hope I didn't bore you to death and I'll see you next time! Maybe. The next one won't be as long I promise ;-;
...I just typed a freakin' essay up in here. 4210 characters.
