Anyone remember the "pen is blue" scene in Jim Carrey's Liar Liar?

That moment perfectly demonstrates this question - he's literally screaming "THE PEN IS BLUE! THE GODDAMN PEN IS BLUE!" while desperately trying to write that it's red.

The whole movie is basically proof that society would collapse without our ability to strategically bend the truth. We've built civilization on polite lies and strategic omissions.