Good day fellow Vizzed members. Its been a while since I created a thread and I think this is a good topic for discussion.

To summarize what a "noble lie" is for some of you who have never heard of this saying; a noble lie was coined by Plato in his book The Republic. In the book, Plato defines a noble lie as a principle or belief that high ranking members of the aristocracy or nobles spread and teach the lower class in hopes of achieving a peaceful society (this is just a summery and if you want a more formal definition I suggest you read Plato). A noble lie can range in topics from religion, the "American Dream", or other certain ideas. A deadly truth is the opposite of a noble lie, in that if a noble lie is exposed then repercussions will result from having exposed that lie. Here is a good example...

If anyone has ever heard of the comic book series Watchmen, then I assume you know what I'm going to say. If not here it is. In the comic book series Watchmen, a superhero named Ozymandias finds a solution as to how to end the Cold War. Ozymandias decides to fake an alien invasion by sending a creature (that he creates I believe) to destroy New York City and killing millions of people. Ozymandias believes that the United States and Soviet Union, believing that aliens are attacking the planet, will unite together to stop the alien invasion. This of course happens (in the comic). This is a good example of a noble lie concept as the alien invasion doesn't exist, but because Ozymandias created and spread this idea of an alien invasion; the United States and Soviet Union unite together (thus a peaceful society is achieved). Only Ozymandias and some other superheros (Watchmen) know of Ozymandias lie, but choice not to reveal the truth (except for one but he gets killed to preserve the peace). If the truth is exposed that an alien invasion doesn't exist, then the Cold War would continue and the possibility of nuclear war(thus a deadly truth).

Here is another example.

We have all heard the concept of the "American Dream" which is belief if you work hard you will be rich and own a house with a white picket fence. But we know that this is not the case as no matter how hard or how much a working person works, he will never be rich. He might own a house, but it won't be the house that he believes is the house in this "American Dream". This is another example of a noble lie (perhaps). So why does the worker still work if the "American Dream" is a noble lie? Because if workers decided to stop working as they can't achieve their dreams, then the economy would collapse, which leads to civil unrest, thus a society becomes unstable.

This is perhaps the easiest example I could explain. Like I said there have been many ideas put forth that are argued to be noble lies (Machiavelli believed that religion is a noble lie as religion keeps a society stable, Marx believed that capitalist principles are noble lies as these ideas are a means for the bourgeoisie to control the working man) but for me to explain their ideas would be a little time consuming and difficult for some people to grasp.

So now is the time for the debate, here are some points for you to think about...

1. Do you believe that there are noble lies that are used to keep society functioning? And if so which do you believe are noble lies (if you can)?

2. Can a peaceful society be achieved based on a lie (Watchmen example).

3. Do you think that if some truths are revealed, that it could make society less peaceful/stable? If so/no name which ones (if you can)?

Lies are meant to deceive and lies exist because you don't want someone to know what's really happening.  If that's going on, the situation is not a good one.  Society can't survive on noble lies.  If something is worth lying about, it should be changed or should cease to exist.  Instead of a ruling class controlling an underclass, people should know where they stand and their geopolitical situation.

Lies are meant to control.  My future in someone else's control doesn't let me determine my fate.  That is not how it should be done.