Min Jin Lee

And then the thing that I really think of even as a greater evil than having to kill in order to eat, which is what animals have to do if they are carnivores, is the deceit that I see.

The deceit and the greed that I witness every single day

whether I'm lied to or betrayed or people lie about each other.

And it's become so normalized to lie in order to get what you want.

Yes.

That's been really hard.

Like, when I see young children lie, especially college-age kids,

I'm always so stunned because I keep thinking, I wonder if I can still reach these kids to say that practice ultimately will be terrible for you.

And you're a professor too.

So when we work with students, I'm always thinking, how do I give them these power tools that I have figured out how to use over the years to this next generation?

And is it appropriate to teach ethics with it?

that please use these tools for good.

And if I gave you these tools, all the things that I have worked so hard to understand, will you use it for good or will you just use it for personal gain?

Because I think that if they only use it for personal gain, that I feel like in some way, perhaps I have failed them.

Well, I think that in many ways it's society and not you necessarily failing them, but the generations that have come before them failing them.

And that's what I sort of feel very guilty about that when I talk to my young students, like this is the world you've inherited from me, from my peers, from my ancestors.

And geez, it's really hard out there.

It is really hard out there.

Yeah.

But I think it's almost impossible not to lie now if you spend as much time as most people seem to on social media.