Lying
©1996-2009 Roedy Green, Canadian Mind Products
Lying on Mass Scale
Last revised/verified: 2008-12-10
Consider some of the planet’s most successful liars, who manage to
bamboozle millions. The most successful fall in four camps:
Politicians
e.g. Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, Stephen Harper, Adolf HitlerChurches
e.g. the pope, faith healers, TV evangelists, Peter PopoffGamblers
junk bond salesmen, investment salesmen, casino operators. They persuade people
that bad investments are sure winners.Advertisers
Mattel, SC Johnson, Kraft
They share a number of techniques to pull their cons.
Dress to Impress
People tend to defer to those who appear to have more money and status than they
do. This deferential behaviour is part of the human genome, as it is any social,
hierarchical animal. The clergy take this to extreme with elaborate robes that
are meant to suggest a magical link to god that only they possess.
Use Shills
A simple shill technique is just to have a dozen people standing behind the liar
nodding slowly as if in agreement with everything the liar says. The technique
is at its most transparent in Ron Popiel informercials where the audience
pantomime amazement at every trivial kitchen gadget. The faith healers are most
unscrupulous with this technique using healthy people to simulate deathly ill
members of the audience who experience a “miraculous” recovery at
the touch of the master liar.
Argue By Repeated Assertion
The arch enemy of the liar is the debater who analyses the lies in great detail
and exposes why the lies could not possibly be true. The liar avoids debate at
all cost. If cornered into a debate, he simply ignores whatever his opponent
says and repeats his firm conviction about being right without offering any
reason why it might be right. If he did offer evidence, that would only expose
it to dissection.
Consider how the Bush administration simply ignored all the concerns about
anomalies in his 9/11 story, sniffing as if the concerns were so inconsequential
they did not even need addressing. The Bush administration never presented any
arguents or evidence for their story, giving the opposition less of a handle to
debunk their story.
Target Children
Children are hard wired to believe whatever adults, particularly parents, tell
them, no matter how nonsensical. As a young child, I accepted my father’s
assertion that the world was a sphere, even though it seemed comical. What was
to stop the Australians from falling off? Children will accept even stories as
ludicrous as Santa Claus or Jesus if presented in a serious voice by an adult.
If children did not have this blind trust in adults, they would poison
themselves with toadstools or get is trouble with kindly old men who hand out
candy. A children’s story I heard around the first grade had a giant foul-smelling
spider as the villain. That story burned into my brain the injuction “Stay
away from spiders”. I have seen hundreds of nature documentaries as an
adult assuring me that an encounter with a spider is highly unlikely to end in
death, but the child inside me will have none of it. I won’t go near them.
Other children were fed stories making them equally afraid of invisible old
white-bearded men hiding in the clouds.
The tobacco industry has discovered it as very hard to convince an adult to take
up a cancer-causing habit, but it is relatively easy to trick children into it.
Just tell them the cigarettes give them adult prestige. Use cartoon of Joe the
Camel and bubblegum flavours. In the Philippines they hook their customers at
two years of age by lying to the parents the cigarettes are a form of medicine.
Because children are such easy marks, con men and the advertisers like to target
them. The con men have to be patient. Often they can’t reap the rewards of
the con until the children reach adulthood. Those fears and beliefs can then be
manipulated to drag adults around as if they had nose rings.
Appeal to Arcane Knowledge
This is a favourite of politicians. They claim the justification for whatever
lie they are telling is all classified. They can usually get away with this when
they don’t even have classified clearance themselves. Religious folk use
the technique by claiming magic knowledge, bestowed by god only on the elect (of
which they are a member), or on those who have taken some course of ‘study’
(in the lie itself), or undergone some sort of ceremony or brainwashing.
Repeat!
Unfortunately, almost anyone can be worn down to accept a lie if it is repeated
enough. Liars use mechanical recording machines to repeat the lies for them over
and over 24/7 on TV and radio. The human mind is unconsciously easily fooled
into thinking any idea it hears over and over must represent the
consensus of the tribe. Political parties have “talking points” and
direct thousands of people to spread these identical messages over and over all
through the populace. Paid shills spread them like mustard seeds all over the
Internet, pretending that they believe the lies personally. Advertisers are the
ones who invented the repetition technique.
Hypnosis
Most people think of hypnosis as some guy in a silly turban waving a watch, but
hypnosis is much more subtle than that. I suggest you read a book about Milton
Erickson, one of the world’s greatest hypnotists. You will then be more
wary of advertisers, preachers and politicians using hypnotic techniques to suck
you in. Watch out for vague language. Be suspicious when the cadence of speech
is more memorable than the content. Religion is too illogical to be sold on a
rational basis. It is mainly sold with hypnosis.
Appeal to Authority
Even Christians admit that the bible was written by men, about whom almost
nothing is known. Yet Christians like to argue by finding something in the bible
that agrees with their position. They refuse to acknowledge the bible is nothing
but a book, and further a book proven time and time again to be in error.
Christians don’t even literally claim the bible was written by god, in the
style of Moses and the Ten Commandments, (also a claim for which there is no
evidence). They pretend to be horrified when someone questions the authority of
the bible as if that person were spitting in god’s face. They steadfastly
pretend to see no possible difference between questioning the teachings of their
religion and rejecting the creator of the universe. From where I stand, it takes
some massive chutzpah to pretend that poorly written book, so full of error and
bad writing, was the work of the creator of the universe. They pretend the
authority of the bible cannot be questioned even though they can’t express
a single reason, other than custom, why it deserves that authority.
Children are punished for curiosity, punished for asking questions. They are
trained to submit to arbitrary authority. They are even trained to turn a blind
eye to the crimes committed by that authority. That’s how the Catholic
Church came to be the largest pedophile ring on the planet. All Catholics had
been trained from birth to look the other way.
I wonder if the constructors of the English language were aware of the clue they
were leaving about the dangers of blind believing.
Tell a Big Lie
Hitler mastered this technique. Harper is a devotée. A huge lie is more
impervious. To shift a believer away from a big lie requires a major, painful,
mental shift. They will this stick to it, even without any evidence to support
it and plenty to demolish it. I saw the effectiveness of the technique during
the Canadian federal election in 2008-10. Harper said
that his party had the greenest platform and that each of the parties opposing
him as part of their official platform called for massive new taxes. This was a
set of unusually blatant big lies. I challenged Tory supporters to go to the
websites of the various parties to see for themselves if this were true. Nobody
went. Why? Because if it would wrenching and painful to simultaneously be a Tory
supporter and to support a party that was telling major big lies. Because if
they secretly did look, they would have to find some torturous explanation to
deny what they saw, e.g. imagined the parties all secretly changed their
platforms to make Mr. Harper look like a liar.
Some of Mr. Harper’s big lie supporters for example, to excuse Mr. Harper’s
lies on global warming, posit a planet-wide conspiracy of all scientists in
league against its honest politicians like Mr. Harper (who through some strange
logic knows all that is is necessary about climate science without ever having
studied the subject or possibly who relies on some more reliable source of
information than the scientists). This is sort of weirdness is what squirts out
of a human brain when it tries to hold two mutually contradictory facts.
Dissemble
This classic case of this in the box of crackers that when you take it home is
only 1/3 full, or the tower of blank DVDs that is only half full. If you read
the fine print the box of crackers in only guaranteed to contain 200 grams. The
empty space is excused “to allow for settling” Literally, Kraft told
the truth, but they tried to fool and cheat their customers. Some politicians (on
left and right) dissemble to attack a carbon tax, by conveniently pretending to
forget the offsetting income tax rebate to make it revenue neutral.
Harper likes to play dissembling games with the word “pollution”.
“Kyoto does virtually nothing to deal with pollution and to deal with the
quality of the air that we breathe. Let’s forget about this unworkable
treaty… Kyoto’s never going to be passed.
~ Stephen Harper (born: 1959-04-30 age: 50)
anti-environmental Prime Minister of Canada, Toronto Star, 2002-09-05
Some of the techniques for reducing CO2
also have a beneficial effect on other pollutants as well. For example, more
efficient appliances means less coal has to be burned to produce the electricity,
which means less sulphur and acid rain. More fuel-efficient cars mean less
emissions of all types. Green technology for heating means less particulates
emitted. Wind and solar don’t produce any emissions of any kind. But even
if reducing green house gas had no beneficial effects on traditional pollution,
you still have to do it. It threatens global human survival.
Use Ad Hominems
Ad Hominems are the prime
technique of debaters lying on the Internet. If anyone calls the lie, the
response is to personally attack them, accusing them of child molesting, sexual
deviancy, philandering, having unpopular diseases, bestiality, having a hidden
agenda, having ties with terrorists, being a communist, loving some unpopular
group… There needs be no grounds at all for the allegations. Then they
slip in, or at least imply, the logical fallacy, “if these opponent is
that wicked, any facts or arguments they might present must necessaryily be
false”
[This is not the same as simply attacking someone for holding odious views, e.g.
that chicken torture should be taught in elementary schools. There is no lie or
logical fallacy involved, just deliberate incivility.]
The subject of the ad hominem attack then becomes distracted, feeling obligated
to defend his reputation. Nobody is interested in this side debate but the guy
defending his reputation. The discussion dies without every getting around to
discussing the original lie.
The Bush administration and its supporters used this technique extensively when
anyone asked questions about anomalies in the Bush story of what happened on 9/11.
Skeptics were quickly labeled “conspiracy theorists”, “traitors”
or even “terrorists“
Use Straw Men
Straw men are the favoured
technique of the creationists. They put false quotations in the mouths of their
opponents and attack them. No matter how many times they are called on this form
of cheating, they just drag out the same old straw men at the next debate. These
straw men are getting worn. Creationists have been trying to fob them off since 1860.
That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It
Presidents, in particular, like to announce their lie, then refuse to answer any
questions about it. If forced to revisit the lie, they tell it again using
exactly the same words. They are recalling a fabricated well-rehearsed story not
actual events.
Clergy like to tell a lie then imply there would be something exceedingly
improper about asking what evidence there is to support it it. If challenged, he
will act huffy — how dare you call me a liar by suggesting anything I
say would require evidence. How dare you question God! He fails to see the
humour of his rebuttal.
Ronald Reagan used to inadvertently lie when he would repeat well-rehearsed
plots from his movie making days as actual events.
Just Kidding
When you hear a tale, you tend to place it in one of three categories:
- Something likely true.
- Something likely a lie.
- Just a story. It is not literally true, but it is not meant to be. This category
includes entertainment, morality stories, fairy tales.
We tend to turn off critical faculties for (3) so we can enjoy the fanciful. Car
makers show us cars flying, jumping and going exceedingly fast. Even though we
know these are just entertainments, because the stories are about real cars, we
unconsciously associate these magical powers with real car brands. We are sucked
in much the way a small boy half expects to fly by attaching red cape to his
back. Think of all the silly white lies, that a carpet sweeper will cause your
husband to go an a manic cleaning spree, that AXE squirted on your arm pits will
make beautiful women kidnaps you and hold you as their sex slave….
Theatrical Conventions
You probably overestimate your ability to detect liars, seduced by your skill at
detecting liars in the movies and in TV dramas. In drama, there are a number of
conventions to let the audience quickly finger the villains. Keep in mind, in a
drama, everyone is lying! In real life, liars are much more difficult to
detect. Only the most accomplished liars go into it as a profession.
The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve
got it made.
~ Jean Giraudoux (born: 1882 died: 1944 at age: 62)
Summary
Selling and lying are the core of religion, politics and business. You are being
sold and lied to every waking minute. Professional salesmen and liars are using
every imaginable tool to hone their tools. The more aware of how they go after
you, the better you will be at resisting them.
Books
 |
recommend book⇒Detecting Lies and Deceit: The Psychology of Lying and the Implications for Professional Practice |
| | paperback |
|---|
| ISBN13: | 978-0-471-85316-9 |
|---|
| publisher: | Wiley |
|---|
| published: | 2000-03-14 |
|---|
| by: | Aldert Vrij |
|---|
| How professionals in law enforcement and psychology detect lying. It also covers lie detector tests. |
|
 |
recommend book⇒How to Master the Art of Selling |
| | paperback | hardcover |
|---|
| ISBN13: | 978-0-446-38636-4 | 978-0-938636-03-8 |
|---|
| publisher: | Grand Central Publishing |
|---|
| published: | 1988-10-20 |
|---|
| by: | Tom Hopkins |
|---|
| This is a book about selling products, somewhat more ethical than most. However, Hopkins in big on the art of dissembling. If you are aware of the various techniques the pros are taught to persuade you and lie to you, you can defend yourself against them better. |
|
 |
recommend book⇒How to Spot a Liar |
| | paperback | hardcover | kindle |
|---|
| ISBN13: | 978-1-4270-9361-5 | 978-0-7858-2304-9 | B001C367OM |
|---|
| publisher: | ReadHowYouWant |
|---|
| published: | 2008-07-11 |
|---|
| by: | Gregory Hartley |
|---|
| Hartley is a professional interrogator for the US military. I suppose just spotting the liar is not much of a coup. You want to know the truth behind the lie. There is the old joke, “How do you know when a politician is lying? — his lips move.” Also comes in big print, audio and audio CD formats. |
|
 |
recommend book⇒The Wisdom of Milton H. Erickson: The Complete Volume |
| | paperback | hardcover |
|---|
| ISBN13: | 978-1-904424-17-8 | 978-1-904424-96-3 |
|---|
| publisher: | Crown House |
|---|
| published: | 2005-05-31 |
|---|
| by: | Ronald A. Havens |
|---|
| Erickson was perhaps the world’s most skillful hypnotist. He used it primarily in psychotherapy. His techniques allowed him to hypnotise people without them ever being aware of it. As you might expect, his techniques are now used for much less altruistic purposes. |
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