Deception has been a part of human culture for as long since the dawn of human existence and has transformed itself the more we have evolved into more sophisticated social animals.
Deception, more commonly known as lying, is something we humans have harnessed as a form of a defense mechanism.
The spread of misinformation or partial truths is a tactic humans use to manipulate and persuade other humans to form a misleading impression.
For instance, we use misinformation and tell lies to create a false perception of what we see as truth.
We often tell lies to others about ourselves if we feel insecure - appearing to be strong when we truly feel weak inside.
We first see deception in the book of Genesis in the Bible with the story of Adam and Eve.
The creation story of how God created humans gives us an in-depth look into fundamental laws of human nature.
God creates Adam and Eve, places them in the Garden of Eden, and tells them they are not to eat fruit from the tree of life.
Eve is met by a serpent that deceives her into taking fruit from the tree and eating it by telling her that if she eats the fruit, she will have the knowledge and wisdom of God.
Eve giving in to her temptation, takes the fruit, eats it, and shares it with Adam, both betraying God's commands.
The two of them are met by God for betraying His commands, in which He bestows upon them a life of pain and hardship.
While I am aware not everyone out there is Christian or religious, there is a deeper message in the story of Adam and Eve we could all learn from.
We see in the story of Adam and Eve that God created humans out of His image, giving them His knowledge and wisdom, and still still seeing the effects of giving in to our humanistic tendencies of temptation to create a life of pain and hardship.
Deception and temptation are two primal instincts we have as humans, as these are two instincts have allowed us to survive through millions of years of evolution.
Our earliest ancestors used the art of deception to catch and kill prey in the wild when hunting and searching for food.
The act of giving into temptation is a primal instinct of seeking immediate short term gratification.
The deeper message we see in the story of Adam and Eve is that giving into our humanistic temptations will deter us from finding the deeper and more meaningful things in life, and will set us along a path of pain and hardship.
We have discussed in previous blog posts about the effects of lying and how lying plays a role in the human psyche - falsely programming our intuition to look for things that aren't really there.
Through lying and deceiving others, we set ourselves along a path of self-inflicted pain and hardship.
The implications of lying can have lasting effects on who we are and can be incredibly damaging to our character over a long enough time frame.
As humans, we must be able to understand why others would choose to deceive us in the first place.
We need to become aware of other peoples thoughts and feelings so that we do not fall under the spell of deception.
The first step in not falling subject to others deception is to first be able to speak our own truth.
By speaking your own truth, you will positively set yourself along a path of seeking genuine fulfillment in life.
By speaking the truth, you will program your own intuition to search for things and other people that will serve your long term fulfillment and purpose.
The second step in not falling subject to deception is to become more empathetic, and try and understand others feelings.
Understand that everyone has their own insecurities and will often think and behave from a place that is rooted in their own insecurities.
It is extremely easy for humans to deceive others from the truth when they haven't come to terms with their own insecurities.
We give others misinformation or partial truths to shield them from the actual truth.
We like to paint a perception of ourselves in other peoples minds that make us look better than we really are because we are afraid of what others would think if they knew the real us.
It is critical for us as humans to be able to speak our truth if we wish to find the path to fulfillment.
Understand that you will meet people in your life that will try and exploit you for telling your truth, but they do so because of their own insecurities.
You do not need to tell everyone everything about yourself because a sense of mystery will draw peoples attention to you.
But you can assure that telling the truth will make you feel better at the end of the day.
The truth is authentic and is what makes you who you are.
Do not try and deceive others, but beware of falling subject to deception from others as well, for this will ensure a long lasting life of fulfillment.