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   pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Saturday, 01-Aug-2026 08:41:27 JST pistolero

   • cy
   @cy
   
   > If I tell you to pick door number one, and that's the one with the llama behind it, am I lying to you, or am I telling you the truth in a different language?
   
   Do you intend to cause me to believe something that is not true? If I close my eyes and mash my keyboard and then hit "Post", and by sheer coincidence it actually spells "Send 100 XMR or I will release your sex tape to the public and I will watch it with your mom" then have I committed extortion? I don't think you can divorce intent: words are just words, letters are just squiggly lines, until you use them to intentionally convey a message.
   
   > It's really hard to pin down what "lying" is
   
   I don't think so. You have lied if you want someone to do something and if they viewed the truth as you do then they would not do it so you craft what you are presenting by working backwards from the desired result.
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     cy (cy@fedicy.us.to)'s status on Sunday, 02-Aug-2026 23:35:31 JST cy

     in reply to
     Exactly! It's entirely intent based, so nothing we say is necessarily a lie. All that matters is the internal reasoning in our own heads of why we're saying it. I could tell you the honest truth, and if I knew you wouldn't believe me, and would assume I was lying, then I'd be lying!
     
     So unless you're a mind reader, it's hard to determine what is or is not a lie.
     pistolero likes this.
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     pistolero (p@fsebugoutzone.org)'s status on Sunday, 02-Aug-2026 23:36:44 JST pistolero

     in reply to

     • cy
     @cy
     
     > I could tell you the honest truth, and if I knew you wouldn't believe me, and would assume I was lying, then I'd be lying!
     
     Well, in that case, knowing you won't be believed is a split between "but I'm obligated anyway" and "I'll tell you this *because* I intend you to think I'm lying". You've got to want to deceive the other person. (That's why I took some exception to the accusation of "fear-mongering".)
     
     > So unless you're a mind reader, it's hard to determine what is or is not a lie.
     
     See, I don't think so, I think you just have to intend to deceive and then to carry out the deception by communicating.