Deception: while unethical, is no excuse for allowing oneself to be deceived

Personally, I believe that deceitful people can infest any environment whether it be online or face-to-face. Obviously a forty-five year old man cannot convince someone that he is a twenty-three year old woman in a face-to-face interaction; that said, deception should be just as likely in both circumstances because they involve human interactions, and a large percentage of people practice deceit as a tactic for personal gain. Is this ethical? No. Is it an excuse to be gullible? No. While the reality of deception is unfortunate for people like myself who believe that honesty is the best policy, it does not change the fact that people misrepresent themselves every single day. Consequently, it is our responsibility to “find” the truth in given situations. It is foolish to believe everything that we are being told, especially when it contradicts our experiences. When what someone is saying does not match up to their behavior, one should rely more heavily on the behavior for truth than on the verbal exchange. Since it is common knowledge that people are deceptive, it is each person’s responsibility to uncover the truth for themselves. Although deception is never ethical, it does not change the fact that deceptive people are all around us both online and in face-to-face interactions. This common knowledge makes it all the more difficult to play the victim after being deceived because in hindsight, after reflecting on any given circumstance, signs and warnings are usually apparent. A couple of good rules for both men and women are DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU HEAR, ALWAYS PRACTICE GOOD JUDGMENT, and TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS.