Answers to: “Does He Have a Reason to Lie?”

ANSWERS TO QUIZ:

From: "Craig Nitschke"

Hi,

These answers are submitted by my 16 year old son, Joshua:

QUESTIONS: 1.

Bert: "Let's go to see The Flying Bumpkins tonight."
Scotty: "I don't know. My mom doesn't like me seeing movies that have flying creatures in them."
Bert: "Aw, it's not about flying creatures. "Flying" only means they run very fast."

Bert has a reason to lie. He wants Scotty to go with him to see the movie "The Flying Bumpkins," so he's lying about the content of the movie.

2. General to his troops: "I am afraid men. I am afraid of tomorrow's battle. It appears the enemy is too strong for us. I fear that we will be massacred."

He has no reason to lie, if anything, this will lower the moral of the men, which could even make a massacre more likely. This doesn't really give him any known advantage. According to information giving to me, I'd say that he isn't lying.

3. "Howard Dean is a candidate that can energize people to get to the polls, a candidate that can raise the money to be heard, and a candidate that can draw clear distinctions between himself and George Bush." – Andrew Stern, Union President of Service Employees International

Well, judging by his glowing remarks about Howard Dean, he probably wants Mr. Dean to be elected (perhaps his Union company will benefit). If that is the case, he does have reason to lie. Its kind of hard to tell if he is without slightly more information; he could be telling the truth from a Neutral perspective, but if that were the case then you would think he would mention some of the bad things about Howard Dean. Maybe all the above is true, and Mr. Stern's sin could be omission of facts.

4. "The green mamba is the [most] dreaded snake species of Africa. Treat it with great respect. It is considered one of the most dangerous snakes known. Not only is it highly venomous, but it is aggressive and its victim has little chance to escape from a bite." From "The Illustrated Guide to Poisonous Snakes."

No reason to lie here, unless they want to freak people out, and they would only hurt there reputations. The authors of this book would get a reputation like "The Inquisitor"

5. "Sir Knight, I know not who thou art, but I do pledge my knightly word that thou art the most potent knight that ever I have met in all my life." – King Arthur

I don't see a reason to lie, theire are no obvious benefits for lying here.

6. "I've been taking Focus Factor since we introduced it two years ago. I wouldn't work a day without it." – Rob Graham – President of Vital Basics (which makes "Focus Factor")

Yeah, he's only selling this product! Of course he has reason to lie, he gets money for the more he sells....

7. "The Gold Market, which is currently at $386 an ounce, in predicted by experts to have the explosive upside potential of reaching up to $1,500 an ounce." – United States Rare Coin & Bullion Reserve (which sells gold coins).

Yeah, they have reason to lie. They are hoping people will see this and buy some of their coins, which will supposedly make the buyers money because of increasing value. However, if the price of gold doesn't raise it doesn't matter because Rare Coin company has made its money.

8. "As a whole, the [Russian] armed forces are only 75-80 percent equipped with fully functioning ammunition and technology, and of this, modern weapons make up less than 20 percent." – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov

I don't think he's lying...Russia is a poor country, and even if this statement is false, it could make another country think of taking it over, so why would they lie about that? Maybe they are trying to get modern weapons (Sounds like it) but if they already had them, why would they ask?

9."Homeschooled children and youth develop strong ties with their parents and siblings. Research shows that they are also socially, emotionally, and psychologically healthy and strong." – Worldwide Guide to Homeschooling, by Brian D. Ray, Ph.D., head of National Home Education Research Institute

Well, just because of who he works for he has reason to lie....He's the head of a Home Education Research Insitute, so he obviously supports Home Education.

10. Ely: "Do I believe in aliens from other planets? I sure do. I've seen 'em. I was standing out on my back porch one day when I saw this big hovering saucer. It landed in my back yard. A door opened up and these little green men came down a ladder. They walked up to me and asked me in squeaky voices if there were any good Chinese Buffets in the area. I told them about the one around the corner and they said "thank you" – real polite like – got back in their machine and flew off. Yes sir. I've seen aliens. I sent my story to this UFO magazine and they printed it."

He's probably crazy, but maybe he wants to be famous, and is stupid enough to lie...

11. "Black men in service to the South were such common sights that, not only did Northern officers and enlisted men write about the service to the South by blacks, but also a British officer reported on the service rendered the South by its black soldiers." – -from a book called "The South Was Right!"

Yeah, these southernors want to look like they were right, so they might lie to make themselves look better. Of course, it could be true, but yes, they do have reason to lie.

LETTERS

From: "Al Manning"

>The green one says in bold letters: "I've tried other
>memory supplements before, but the day I started
>using Superthinker Pills I noticed a difference.
>Now, I don't forget things. I finally can remember
>where I put my keys. Superthinker Pills are better
>than "Photographic Memory Pills." – Sam Sparks,
>postal worker.

In the example above, I think you are making the assumption that Sam Sparks is an actual person who actually said what was attributed to him on the back of the box. There is a possibility the person and the testimony are completely fabricated. The person who made the decision to put that testimony on the back of the box has a reason to lie. He obviously works for the company in some capacity and would benefit either directly or indirectly from increased sales of the product based on that testimony.

Also, Mr. Sparks' claim, even if he honestly believes what he says, is based only on his own, personal experience, the results of which could be affected by many factors, as opposed to the results of a controlled, scientific study

However, this logic loop has helped me look at things differently. I tend to be a bit naive and believe people are truthful. Evaluating what they say by asking myself if they have a reason to lie will be beneficial, especially when dealing with employees and job applicants.

Al Manning

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