What if nobody could lie?

Job interviews get shorter. First dates get much, much shorter.

2 min readUpdated 29 October 2026

Day one. “So, do you like it?” A long pause.

< 0.1%chance it
ever happens

< 0.1%chance this ever happens

Could it actually happen?

Lying is one of the oldest things people do. In one well-known diary study, people admitted to about one or two lies a day, mostly small, polite ones: “I’m fine”, “I love it”, “I’m five minutes away”. Children start fibbing at around three. Nothing in medicine or technology comes close to switching that off for everyone.

The first morning

At seven in the morning a radio host asks his guest how she is, and she says “awful, actually”. Nobody understands what has happened until they try to say something untrue themselves and find that they simply can’t.

By lunchtime, three governments have cancelled their press conferences.

The first year

Politics changes first. Campaigns get very short when every promise has to be real, and courts hardly need juries when nobody can deny anything.

Everyday life is rougher. “Do you like my haircut?” becomes a risky question. People get good at saying nothing at all, and the word “interesting” gets used a great deal.

The shortest campaign speech in history.

Ten years on

Politeness changes. People ask fewer questions they don’t want answered, and get better at kind truths, like “I can see how hard you worked on it.”

Advertising is barely recognisable. Every product is described exactly as it is, and it sells surprisingly well.

A used car lot, ten years on. Every question gets the real answer.

Who wins

Honest peopleThey were already living like this. Everyone else has caught up.
JudgesMost trials are three questions long.
Anyone buying a used car“Any problems with it?” finally gets a real answer.

Who loses

PoliticiansSome promises stop being made at all.
Salespeople“Limited-time offer” only works if it is one.
Surprise partiesAsk the birthday girl what she’s doing on Saturday. She’ll tell you.
Tactful peopleEvery little white lie that kept the peace is gone.

The catch

You could still keep a secret. You could still say nothing. A world without lies would mostly be a world of people suddenly finding their shoes very interesting.