Re: Why believe the truth?

From: Robin Hanson (rhanson@gmu.edu)
Date: Mon Jun 16 2003 - 22:22:30 MDT

  • Next message: Ramez Naam: "RE: Why believe the truth?"

    On 6/16/2003, Hal Finney wrote:
    > > You might tell your girlfriend that she is average ...
    >Some of this seems to be demonstrating a distinction between seeking
    >the truth and speaking the truth. You may know these things without
    >telling anyone about them.
    >Some of the points you raise do demonstrate costs to this approach.
    >You may not be a good liar, and you may not be as socially effective if
    >your beliefs do not match your actions. But I suspect that this handicap
    >can be overcome, or at least minimized. ...
    >And I think most of us have learned to maintain this kind of split
    >to some degree, in our relationships. You may well have a different
    >opinion about your girlfriend than what you lead her to believe. I'll bet
    >most people do, to some extent. Similarly most of us are probably not
    >completely frank with the boss, co-workers, other family members, and
    >most casual friends. Humans have evolved considerable skill at these
    >kinds of deceptions. Lying to yourself is not a necessary prerequisite.

    I agree that people do on occasion lie. But I don't think they are really
    capable of lying most of the time. It is just too hard to maintain in your
    head both what you really think and what you would think if you were the
    person you project.

    Do any of you think that you consistently lie in what you post to this list?
    Do you even think you could do so, and maintain your interest in being here?

    Consider how damn hard it is to be a good actor. There are a few people
    who can convincingly project a very different persona from who they are,
    but they are few and far between. Most of us completely fail.

    Robin Hanson rhanson@gmu.edu http://hanson.gmu.edu
    Assistant Professor of Economics, George Mason University
    MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
    703-993-2326 FAX: 703-993-2323



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