Should you lie about your body count?

[Roy]

A good answer I like to use for this that defuses this kind of conversation, is give a smirk and say, "Ohhh. You don't wanna know ." That leaves things ambiguous and playfully confuses them.

If they keep asking just keep playing coy and say, "You're smart, I'll let you figure it out."

These kind of questions are ONLY things you want to know the real answers to once you've been in a deep relationship for a few years when it's no longer consequential. It's going to seriously fuck with you hearing your girlfriend of 2 months has slept with 40 guys, versus her telling you that after you've already lived together for 4 years. Don't let curiosity kill the cat.

Relationships can be tricky vulnerable things and get spoiled early on for unpredictable reasons. So you want to play a careful dance of what information you reveal to each other over time, while consciously building solid steps of trust in each stage.

Lying and withholding information might have the same desired result, but they are different mechanisms with different ethical impacts.

Sometimes you can't withhold information and lying is the most ethical option in order to spare needless suffering. Be careful not to get into these situations too often, but also don't hate yourself when you have to make that choice, or you find out someone had to do it to you.