Truth, the whole truth, only truth and nothing but truth

You will be paid for speaking truth, the whole truth, only truth and nothing but truth. Did it sound like you are in court of law (sans “you will be paid”) facing the judge? “You will be paid” are the most fascinating words, I would love to hear again and again. I am one of those, who believe in measuring everything in the materialistic world including happiness, success. Now the question is what is the unit of measurement for happiness and success? Is it the reward (including money) I earn by involving myself in ethical (being true) and not so ethical practices?
I remember, I was always taught to be truthful since my infancy. I was also explained why I should, apparently, afterlife sinners are relegated to one or more chamber(s) of hell or level(s) of suffering. That means, I speak truth and I do not get anything in return but save myself from the demons, who torment the damned in hell. What if I lie, do I get something in return? Yes. I got one hard slap from my dad in this life and did not have to wait for the afterlife demon. But this happened longtime back when I was younger by 25 winter, today under same circumstance the returns are rewarding, I can site innumerable examples to support my claim, such as - I save myself from being cornered if I say I have forgotten (which I didn’t) or best, if I blame someone else for my fault (in his absence), I take the credit of doing something not ever done by me, thus earning appreciation (even salary raise). Believe me when I do all these unethical stuff, I do not even worry about before life or afterlife demon, more so because I have understood the fact that being truthful does not pay.
I was happy to stick to my belief until I saw an episode of a reality show, where a participant earns money by speaking the truth. The interviewer asks intimate questions pertaining to participant's past and the participant has to answer in binary (no not in 0 and 1, but yes or no). The six levels of questions are arranged in pyramid, the number of question decreases from bottom to top and the amount of money increases with the complexity of question, with every level the risk and vulnerability also doubles up. This reality show has taken a giant leap by bringing this concept, and taking reality show to the next level. Anyway, these days viewers hardly like to attach themselves with never ending daily soaps, rather they choose to see reality shows which are “nano” (quick ending) and projects human behavior under different stress level, so this show has exactly catered to viewers requirement. Being part of the same crowd, I did not want to miss the opportunity to be student of psychology, hence glued myself to the serial and watched the participants literally breaking down under immense stress, trying to speak the truth. While it was amazing to see the participant being lured by the humongous amount they can win, it was also painful to see them in tears rupturing (or almost ruptured) close to heart relationship in the process of winning money. That moment I realized, albeit truth pays it also hurts.
I guess the questions were framed in three formats simple, intermediate and complex, the complexity increases exponentially. Some questions did not hurt anyone, some were meant to hurt at least one (in family) and the rest were to hurt the participant professionally or personally. The purpose is to tear off the participant by making all the effort to expose him to people around him, almost equivalent to project the participant nude in public with fists tied behind. If I am the producer I would rechristen the name of show to “agonizing truth”. I hope such extreme stress doesn’t drive people to insanity. If at all someone achieves insanity that is purely by choice, and no one is forced to answer questions and be truthful publicly. On one hand, success meant richer by thousands of dollars, on the other hand it also meant, poorer than ever in terms of dented or broken relationships.
Accolades for all human who have found the most inhuman way to reward truthful people and I also heartily wish the participants, at the receiving end, experience a pleasant ending as Fletcher Reede – the liar (read as lawyer), in “Liar Liar”.