The only alternative to outright lying to a telemarketer is to purchase something from them? Who knew? I'd been telling them "Sorry, I'm not interested," and hanging up on them for years, which incidentally isn't a lie.
There are also relatively diplomatic ways of getting around the Aunt Agatha problem without actually lying, either. If she's showing it off to you, you can tell her it's obvious she worked hard on it (if she did) or that she's quite an accomplished knitter (if she is) or that its intended user will get a lot of use out of it. If it's something she is giving you, you can always just smile and say thank you.
However, if you predicate your life on the assumption that social relations exist strictly to make the other person feel better (as Bronson points out), you shouldn't be too surprised when your kids (or your culture) get the not-to-subliminal message that lying is perfectly fine as long as it makes the person lied to feel better about themselves.
Politicians do this all the time. So, how's that philosophy working out for everyone?
(no subject)
There are also relatively diplomatic ways of getting around the Aunt Agatha problem without actually lying, either. If she's showing it off to you, you can tell her it's obvious she worked hard on it (if she did) or that she's quite an accomplished knitter (if she is) or that its intended user will get a lot of use out of it. If it's something she is giving you, you can always just smile and say thank you.
However, if you predicate your life on the assumption that social relations exist strictly to make the other person feel better (as Bronson points out), you shouldn't be too surprised when your kids (or your culture) get the not-to-subliminal message that lying is perfectly fine as long as it makes the person lied to feel better about themselves.
Politicians do this all the time. So, how's that philosophy working out for everyone?