Honesty and lies in the photography world.

I have seen many photographer lie about techniques used when asked by a fan how they managed an effect.
I don't understand why any photographer feels the need to lie about how a technique is accomplished. No one will ever be able to achieve the same style or photo.
I get the "oh they are the competition" train of thought. We, as photographers, want all the possible clients to pick us and not the other guys. I get it. I want that as well.
But no one will ever have my style—they can't because they aren't me. They will have their own style.

Can they come close to one or two? Yes.  But honestly recreating most of another persons photos is unlikely and improbable.

Teaching others will not diminish our own skill.

I can't figure out why anyone would be so afraid of someone—who does not have the same type of clients due to price/style/etc as they do—to think of another camera owner as a threat.
The clients who pick other photographers still will not have chosen you. (Unless you are 50% of the photographer population, which you as an individual/company are not.)

Case in point about the lies photographers will tell fans of their work.

I follow a lot of photographers on my facebook page. Because I love taking photos but I also love to look at other peoples work as well. It's a habit I enjoy from photography school.

I was looking at my feed and saw an image. This image. (I cropped it.)

Now, it's a pretty neat image. Not the best, but not the worst. The point is: I read the comments. One fan asked how the photographer how they did it. Not because they are trying to learn all their secrets in order to take over their client base and put them out of business—but because they honestly loved it and were curious.
The photographer said they used "a low ISO and spun and MAYBE zoomed in and out."

No. No one "spins" in a perfect circle. Not the best dancers in the world can—and least of all while zooming in and out. It would be believable if it was a shot aimed upward rather than straight out. There would also be more lines and the lines wouldn't be so perfectly centered. (They were in the original uncropped image.)

So I googled an image of trees and got this. Clearly the starting images are different but the effects and lines of movement are the same. (Yes the light and dark are also different, but again, that's due to the different starting image.)

This image took me all of 30 seconds to recreate in photoshop. (Radial blur, and whatever other effects for color and definition you'd like to use.)
Here is another:

This is the first 100% obvious lie I have seen. I've seen many, but they were slightly more time consuming to prove.
Please, photographers, STOP lying to fans. Have the confidence in your work to know that it is unique and not simply one photoshop action away from being reproduced. You will not go out of business by sharing and teaching others.

People wanting to learn are not our enemies. They will not put us out of business or take money from our pockets.
Art does not belong to a select few. It belongs to everyone and if someone wants to learn a technique they will either find a way or go to someone else. There is a one in a million (Just an estimation to make a point.) chance they would hire you to recreate that effect for them. They will not impact your bank account either way.

So Stop being anything less than honest and start having the confidence in yourself to know you are irreplaceable to any and all clients who hire you and your work is yours, and yours alone.