I am tired of people not fessing up when they are wrong. They prefer to say that they "lied". Lying is telling somebody something you KNOW is untrue.
Admitting to lying means you were in control, you knew what you were doing. Admitting you are wrong is a hard thing to do. If you are wrong, you may think you are incompetent.
Of course everybody is wrong at one time or another. It is not embarrassing to be shown to have made a mistake. So why not just say "Oops I made a mistake" instead of saying "I lied"? Why not admit to an honest mistake? We all make them. We're human.
Arn
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pokeyfiero Member
Posts: 16203 From: Free America! Registered: Dec 2003
Beacuse in MOST cases, they are not wrong and there is no right or wrong. The concept is entirely subjective to the idividuals wants/ needs/ deires/ thought process. The entire right/ wrong really only applies to black-and-white situations (IE, a brake mounting bolt on XXX is 5/8", right-or-wrong). As soon as ANY options are introduced, it becomes a matter of opinion and not right or wrong, and people dont like being subjegated, hence wont say they are "wrong". They also get sick and tired of arguing about it it,so will say "I lied"....what they are REALLY saying is "I am not backing down on being right, now STFU"
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TheDigitalAlchemist Member
Posts: 12628 From: Long Island, NY Registered: Jan 2012
I am tired of people not fessing up when they are wrong. They prefer to say that they "lied". Lying is telling somebody something you KNOW is untrue.
Admitting to lying means you were in control, you knew what you were doing. Admitting you are wrong is a hard thing to do. If you are wrong, you may think you are incompetent.
Of course everybody is wrong at one time or another. It is not embarrassing to be shown to have made a mistake. So why not just say "Oops I made a mistake" instead of saying "I lied"? Why not admit to an honest mistake? We all make them. We're human.
Arn
Who was the person who inspired you to create this thread?
What was the situation?
Would it be worth it to have a conversation with them?
----------------------------- Can't say I have had even one person utter "I lied" to me in the past decade (maybe longer). They just wouldn't admit it.
In my circle there are a number of people, mostly women, who use the phrase "I lied"
I disagree that perspective that the truthfulness of statements is relative to the situation.
I dealt with dishonesty in my working career for 30+ years and I know full well the difference between an innocent error and a lie
For this reason, it bothers me to see a person claim that "I lied" when they are simply mistaken, or wrong.
There is a strong human reaction to both things, 1. being found to be in the wrong, and 2. being found to have been false
The two things are very different, and the people using the phrase "I lied" when they are simply wrong, is both confusing the issue and denying their own humanity.
In short, I have been shown to be wrong on any number of occasions, however, you will find it hard to find an incident where there is evidence indicating I could have lied.
Wait, then who are you? And what did you do with Doug?
I can't understand the "I wasn't wrong, I lied." idea. I guess I'm not into being that deceptive, and having to be right all the time. (Obviously, I'm not a woman.)
I've gotten used to being wrong. (Married 29 years.) Also, I work with some genuine smart people. I'm not one of them, but I'm willing to learn from them. Now, I'm lucky, I work in a field where things can be clear-cut, and only have one right answer.
As MEM pointed out, there are questions that do not have a "right" answer.
It occurs to me that people would rather state that they lied because that would be *intentional*, as in they meant to do it. If they happen to be "wrong" or incorrect about something then that would suggest they did something they didn't intend to do; they didn't anticipate being shown to be wrong, therefore they lacked control over the situation. Perhaps most people would rather give the impression that they were completely in control of the situation by claiming they did something intentionally, even if that happens to be a dishonest act. It's still easier to admit to than admitting they are powerless, or have no control over the outcome.
So true, man... Ever see a cat do something totally clumsy? They get EMBARASSED! - 'I TOTALLY meant to do that..."
People are like that.
Hah! I remember back in the day I had a buddy who had a brand new 2M6 that he had just had a nice paint job done on. We're standing there talking and this silly-ass cat takes a notion to hop up on the hood of his freshly painted car. He was pretty peeved but humane as he picked the cat up carefully and set it on the ground. This happened a couple more times with my buddy growing ever more impatient. Finally on like the fourth or fifth time the cat jumped up there he just reached down and snatched that cat up by the tail. Whirled it like a helicopter blade over his head about five times and sent the cat sailing down the road about 40 feet. The cat landed basically in a sitting position, sort of sliding and spinning in this sitting position on the pavement. As soon as it came to a full stop it just sort of looked around indignantly and started licking itself in that cocky, "Yeah, I meant to do that" manner. I was howlin'. Yup, nice summary- "people are like cats".
[This message has been edited by Taijiguy (edited 10-11-2013).]
I "might" not be right all the time but I'm never wrong. Or, " Yes dear, I must have been wrong. ....... this leaves some degree of doubt.
And on the rare occasion that someone actually says "I was wrong", just agree with them by politely adding the word "Again" to the end of their sentence. Sort of gives them a whole new outlook on life.
All joking aside, I know an engineer friend that can never be proven wrong and you can't put a new idea in his head with a jack hammer!
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
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Oct 12th, 2013
nitroheadz28 Member
Posts: 4774 From: Brooklyn, NY Registered: Mar 2010