DotPenn

Living lies… and loving it in ole State

A CNN-Time Life Records poll on small city life ranks State College near the top of the list of America’s most “lie-able cities.”

“State College residents have created an accepting environment for their lies, hypocracies and rationalizations,” said Dirk Eidens, who helped initiate the study. “It’s an inviting, accepting place for people in denial.”

Eidens said it’s not just the amount of lies that makes State College special, it’s the flourish.

“Some people live with lies, people in State College live with, like, twenty,” Eidens said.

According to the poll, State College residents:

• Go to church, but don’t believe in God;
• Want to save the environment, but drive Escalades;
• Vote, but hate the government;
• Love higher education, but hate college students;
• Believe taxes are too high for them, but too low for everyone else;

The poll didn’t explain the reason for the amount of deception in State College, but Eidens said “the proximity effect” could explain some of it. A nearby major university tends to spawn an unusually high density of philosophy students, as well as people who think they are smarter than they actually are, Eidens said.

One long-time resident agrees with the assessment, “We’re very tolerant of saying one thing and doing another in Happy Valley,” Annette Collins said. “Remember when I said I would like to talk with you… that was a lie… I can barely stand the sight of you.”

“I eat sushi,” Collins added.

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