Summary

The article emphasizes the importance of honesty and the detrimental impact of spreading false information, even when the overall message may contain valid points.

Abstract

The article, titled "The Main Reason You Should Never Lie," underscores the wisdom of Warren Buffett's quote on the fragility of reputation. It uses Tom Brady's controversial Instagram post about suicide rates exceeding COVID-19 deaths as a case study. The post, while starting with incorrect statistics, also included a reminder to be kind and take care of oneself, which aligns with CDC guidelines. The author cautions against dismissing a person's entire message due to a single falsehood and advocates for the importance of discussing mental health issues alongside accurate information. The article concludes by urging public figures to verify their facts to maintain credibility and encourages readers to engage with the full message behind any statement.

Opinions

The author believes that people tend to disregard a speaker's message entirely once they identify a falsehood, which is a disservice to potentially valuable points that follow.
The article suggests that Tom Brady's intention with his Instagram post may not have been malicious, despite the incorrect statistics he shared.
It is implied that the spread of incorrect information, especially during a pandemic, is irresponsible and should be addressed by correcting the falsehoods without necessarily attacking the speaker's character.
The author posits that even though suicide has not outpaced COVID-19 deaths, it remains a critical issue that deserves attention and discussion.
The piece criticizes the polarized reactions to public figures' statements, advocating for a more nuanced approach to evaluating their messages.
It is emphasized that being truthful is crucial for maintaining one's reputation and ensuring that important messages are heard and considered.

The Main Reason You Should Never Lie

People will ignore you

Warren Buffet was right when he said:

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Warren Buffett

If you have something important to say, do NOT lie. Also, try your best to make sure what you are saying is not untrue (but I understand nobody is perfect).

Once you say something that is not true, whether intentionally or not, people stop listening (even if they shouldn’t).

Tom Brady recently posted something on his Instagram story that illustrates this point perfectly.

“More suicide deaths than Coronavirus deaths last two months. So Wash your hands and wear your masks but don't forget to be nice to people and look after yourself.”

TRUTH

Tom Brady (Instagram Story)

Many people were quick to jump on the wildly incorrect statistics he used to claim the first sentence. But,

What was his intent?

and

What about the rest of the message?

The last two questions didn’t get talked about much because people tend to stop listening once you say something untrue. Also, let be honest, many people simply do not like Brady, whether that is because of football or his politics.

That is a real shame because innocuous things like don’t forget to be nice to people should not be controversial. Also, suicide is an issue that we should talk about.

Disclaimer

I don’t know Tom Brady. We have never met, and I don't know anything about him other than watching him play or give interviews.

Since I don't know him, I am not qualified to speculate about his motives for posting the above message.

Unlike a lot of people, I won’t even try. I will stick to the actual message without adding any of my own bias to it.

It’s also worth noting that Merriam-Webster defines a lie as:

to make an untrue statement with intent to deceive

Because of that, I will try my best to avoid saying Brady lied. He may have intended to deceive, but I won’t levy that accusation without proof.

Putting the False Part Aside

To be clear, I never have, nor will I ever suggest you pretend something false is true. However, I think there is some value in listening after you point out a falsehood.

If you go through Brady’s message objectively piece by piece, you will probably see that he had a good point.

First Part

“More suicide deaths than Coronavirus deaths last two months.”

This part of the message is not true. I can’t find any statistics that imply that the above sentence is anywhere close to being true. I have no idea where he got this information, but he should check his sources more carefully next time.

Politifact was very clear on this point:

“The point is, no matter which recent months you take, COVID-19 has killed far more people than suicide has per month historically,”

How should we react?

The reaction to this part of his message should be simple, say it’s not true. Pointing out false statistics is important, especially when dealing with a global pandemic. We should all encourage people with large followings to be more careful about not spreading incorrect information.

What we should not do, in my opinion, is assume that there was some malicious intent. Maybe Tom Brady posted this because he is a hateful Trump supporter who wants us to believe the narrative that Covid is not a big deal. I honestly have no idea, I don't know him personally, and neither do you.

However, the rest of the message (if you read past the first sentence) doesn't support the narrative that he had any malicious intent.

Second Part

“So Wash your hands and wear your masks…”

This part makes a lot of sense. The CDC agrees with Brady. You should wash your hands (often) and wear your masks.

How should we react?

I’ll repeat it. I am just going off his actual message, not any assumptions about a man I have never met.

This does not sound like someone trying to downplay the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic. Or, at the very least, it shows that Brady is not an anti-masker.

While I wouldn’t go as far as suggesting this generic advice deserves praise, we definitely shouldn’t demonize someone for agreeing with the CDC.

Third Part

“..but don’t forget to be nice to people and look after yourself.”

I see nothing here that warrants an adverse reaction. Being nice to people is about as uncontroversial as advice gets. Taking care of yourself is similarly uncontroversial.

How should we react?

I will be the first to admit I am not anything close to an expert on suicide prevention. I seriously doubt it is anywhere near as simple as being nice to people and taking care of ourselves.

That being said, I don’t see any reason to assume Brady had ill intentions when writing this part.

Suicide is a Serious Issue Whether you Hate Tom Brady or not.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), there were 48,344 deaths by suicide in 2018. That comes out to around 4,029 per month.

No amount of mental gymnastics will lead you to conclude that there were more suicides than Covid deaths in recent months.

All that being said, we are missing an excellent opportunity to talk about an important issue. I know suicide is not nearly as deadly as Covid-19 at the moment, but it is still important.

Maybe enough people hate Brady that his message would have been negatively received no matter what. However, he definitely would have had a better chance of starting a conversation around suicide prevention if he did not lead off with a lie.

Final Thoughts

When you see patently false information, call it what it is, false.

But don’t stop there. Listen to the whole message behind that statistic. Issues are more likely to be nuanced than binary.

Tom Brady’s incorrect stat does not make Suicide any less important to talk about.

On the flip side, if you want people to listen to what you say, try your best to be 100% accurate. One false statement has the potential to cause people to tune an otherwise good message out completely.