To navigate the world, we need to trust human communication implicitly, otherwise we would be paralyzed and cease to have social relationships. But we have to be aware of some facts:

• We don't expect lies and are not continually searching for lies, giving liars an advantage.
• We are more prone to falsehoods from people of wealth, power, and status.
• We are very prone to accepting lies that affirm our worldview.
• People are more likely to believe familiar information. Even if the information turns out to be false, we may continue to lean towards it.

However, we get so much from believing, that there is little harm when we occasionally get deceived.

We like to see ourselves as honest because we have internalized honesty as a value taught to us. We generally place limits on how much we are willing to lie.