Would it be better if lying didn't exist?

I watched the Invention of Lying tonight. In it, nobody in the world lies to each other. If I think you're unattractive, I would say to you I think you are unattractive, and I am not interested in you. If I was depressed and you asked me how I was doing today, I would tell you I was doing horribly. I would not tell you I wasn't ready to start dating and it would be best if we were just friends, or that I was doing fine. The main character discovers lying when his mother is dying in a hospital, and she is scared. He tells her that everything is going to be fine, that when she dies, she will see everyone in her life that she ever loved and that she would live in a mansion. This made her happy, and she died.

So is it better to lie, or is it better to always tell the truth?

Lying. I on occasion, will tell a white lie. Usually it will be in a circumstance where I don't want to hurt the other persons feelings. I don't want to make them feel bad. When I think about this, its silly, because I am lying to them because I don't want them to feel bad about a decision I made for myself. So, in the end, I am making excuses for myself. Another instance, would be if I had information about a particular event, having nothing to do with myself- or maybe everything to do with myself, and I choose not to be honest with the person who would be affected by this information, again because I don't want their feelings to be hurt. And then I think about instances where I've been lied to, and think about if I would have wanted to hear the truth. Most of the time, the answer is yes. I think about why. Because when you know the truth about a situation or event, you know the facts. And those facts might hurt, or make you not feel good, but they are real. When I was younger, maybe the answer would have been no. I would rather not know. It's not worth the pain or sadness. As I've gotten older, It's the opposite. Because if you are sad, you learn ways to make yourself happy. And if you start with the bad stuff, it can only get better. But its still harder to be the person who is telling the truth. And thats why this movie was so interesting, because everyone just told the truth. And then they learned how to lie. But in the end, telling the truth and being true to yourself is what mattered. If you tell me I look fat in my jeans, I will go to the gym. If you tell me that yellow looks really bad on me, maybe I will not wear yellow as much unless I absolutely loved wearing yellow. If you tell me that you don't love me, I will believe you. The point is, people can tell you the truth until its coming out of their ears, but it will only affect you if you make the choice to believe them. So we will never live in a world where lying never exists. And everyday, we have to make the decision to believe what other people say to us. We have to choose whether people are saying things that are true, or if they are saying things because of other reasons, because they are jealous, or sad, or happy, or because they are just simply trying to make us feel better.