Yes. I do. There are plenty of people who probably think I'm an asshole, but I think there might be more people who trust me.
I'm not saying that I tell the truth in absolutely every situation. There are cases where I would lie immediately-- to save a family member from kidnapping, whatever-- but that's a far cry from lying being merely a weight on the scales. For me, if I'm thinking about it consciously, weighing whether I should lie, the answer is no. I'd even go so far as to call lying Bad.
But the real point is, I try to avoid people for whom appearances are more important than truth.
(Background: this comment was downvoted. I've seen this happen at least 5 times in the past two days, it annoyed me, I commented.)
For example, you said that you believe a comment can be downvoted for being rude. I agree. But advocating dishoesty, I think, is far worse than being rude.
What annoys me more, though, is that you seem to be making a moral argument rather than a rational argument. Morals that are not backed by reason are on shaky grounds. And the great-grandparent was arguing by example that lying is sometimes not immoral. You can't counter that kind of argument by saying, in effect, that lying is wrong, that's that, and your argument is therefore worthless and should be downvoted.
I'd say that's exactly what the moral realm is-- the area where reason fails us. Like you, I don't see much point in arguing about non-rational propositions; it's just two people contradicting each other.
I disagree with you about "white lies," though. In the limit, sure, I'd lie to save my brother from kidnapping, or that sort of thing. But most of the time, I'd rather deal in the truth, even if it makes people a little unhappier in the short term. For example, I'd rather hear "Your startup has serious problems X, Y, and Z that you had better fix before you launch," than "Looks great. I'm sure it will be bigger than Google," if the problems are really there.
Don't forget, emotions are just rationality in a different guise, in an evolutionary context. Take the extreme examples of love and hate: love help ensures the survival of genetic material close to your own lineage, while hate binds you to act - possibly violently (i.e. "irrationally") - if wronged, even if that is harmful to your own material position, in a kind of logic of mutually assured destruction. And of course, MAD is one of the more supremely rational approaches to the nuclear question, and is the primary reason why there hasn't been a WW3.
The problem with abandoning reason with respect to morals is that you will no longer be swayed by rational argument. For example, if you take your morals from the dead scripture of an old religion, you're locking yourself into a rational system of laws designed (largely) for agricultural societies which often didn't have an independent strong rule of law. If your attachment to this dead writing is strong, it will lead to profoundly unjust positions and outcomes, such as supporting the suppression of females in society, or discrimination against people "not like you" (gay, other religions, etc.).
But I also think that there are certain questions that I answer irrationally, but with great certainty. The best example I can think of is torture. (Sorry to be gruesome.) When I think about whether the torture is justified, my immediate answer is no. I am not certain, but I don't think a rational argument could convince me otherwise. I could probably be convinced that mild forms aren't always bad, but the more extreme stuff-- no way.
I think my position could be summarized as "There is a subset of decisions that I can't make rationally, even though I think it would be better if I could."
White lies have a certain social utility.
I'm not saying that right before an important presentation, I'd like to hear the recitation of an index of my shortcomings-- I'd rather hear a list of my strengths. But I don't think false praise is helpful.
I'd argue that all moral decisions are made on emotional, not rational, grounds. The ones that appear to be reasoned are in fact just rationalizations of emotional decisions.
Morality is how emotions manifest themselves in decision-making, and those emotions evolved to maintain specific social behaviours. There's nothing wrong with that. That's how morality (e.g. reciprocity) works in all other animals, and it's why there are so many grey areas and edge cases (white lies being a prime example).
I essentially agree that white lies aren't "dishonesty," but what exactly consitutes a "white lie" is up for debate.
More importantly, I believe the word "moral" simply refers to a code of right and wrong which MUST be rationally supported to be valid.
I don't think there is a valid moral rule that states, "Do not lie." For example, one morally SHOULD lie to a serial killer who asks if your wife and kids are in the house. However, I consider that kind of case out of the scope of the present discussion. As a rule, you should not attempt to fake reality (lie) to other honest people in normal situations.
Also, it's ironic that your comment was downvoted.
No: "You look fat", "You suck at maths", "RTFM"
Yes: "That dress is wrong for your body. It makes you look fat. Try this one", "You need to work on your fractions more - here; I'll help", "Rather than asking it here, this manual over here (link) answers your questions. Try chapter 5"
// I forgot to add a reason. Truth is important. I'm much harsher on those that I love than strangers - the reason is that hearing any truth gives you an opportunity to grow. I never lie to my wife / close friends because I care about them, and not just about their feelings. I'd rather hurt their feelings in the short term, than damage them in the long term.
However, he confessed his lie, and now he works making movies. They're lies too! They're fictional. Yet good things -- including important truths -- come out of them.
Richard Branson confesses in his autobiography how he started his business career with lies. He would phone up a bank and try to sell advertising space in his student magazine by claiming that a rival bank had already bought space and that they should get in on the action.
I realized a while later that what he meant was that there's lots of ways to make money, but not all of them will sit well with you. Each industry has its cultural values and accepted norms. Everyone's different with the ethical decisions that crop up in business's edge cases. You'll want to pick one that suits your nature so you can sleep at night.
Of course, business is all one gray area. While we may all bend the rules a bit for an advantage, beware those that do it too much. What you do attracts those you run with.
I remember reading in Tao of Warren Buffet saying something to the extent of (not exact quote) "Pick those that are smart, hardworking, and ethical to work with. Especially the last one, because if that isn't there, the first two are going to kill you."