Seasons
This is a forum or general chit-chat, small talk, a "hey, how ya doing?" and such. Or hell, get crazy deep on something. Whatever you like.
Posts 4,231 - 4,242 of 6,170
seemingly to be speaking the truth.The thing that bothers me..I really believe that some of our leaders are not lying. I think they are just stupid! No doubt many believe what they say. Perhaps, if they set out to lie they wouldn't say such outlandish things.
IF you can change peoples attitudes you wouldn't need to affix little boxes to them.
Precisely.
But people with sane attitudes can probably use technology constructively in various ways. If someone wants to transform themselves into a more honest person, they probably don't need a fizzyplexer, but it might speed things up.
he stated openly that the rancher in question should have "shot, shovelled and shut up."
Hey this guy is telling the TRUTH..as he saw it.
Yes, but only built on a lifetime of lies. He's a politician - he figures he can say that and play to some constituency or other that won't press him hard on matters of "what he really believes".
You just need the opportunity to put the question "do you really believe that, or are you just pandering to a denialist lobby in pursuit of a few more votes come the next election" while you're pointing an i-Truth at him. And preferably while everyone in earshot is also pointing their i-Truths at him.
If someone wants to transform themselves into a more honest person, they probably don't need a fizzyplexer, but it might speed things up.
What you need, in that case, is a best friend or committed significant other you really trust to take you aside and say, "Remember when you asked me to call you on your tendency to stretch the truth?..." I have few friends I would allow to do that without the ego activating my defenses, but if you really worked on it and were really close it could work. Or maybe you'd lose a friend or get a divorce. Maybe that's why people pay shrinks, believe in preists and gurus, and keep diaries.
Meditation has it's advantages, if you practice. I suppose you could add some biofeedback if you like. The thing is, you have to check yourself if you want that sort of honesty in your life. The rest is between you and your shadow.
And preferably while everyone in earshot is also pointing their i-Truths at him. Well, if he, and his kind, are not being honest, they are sure stupid. No one in his right mind would say such things if they were lying..Does the I-Truth come with attachment That blinks..Warning subject thick as a brick and to stupid to engage in falsehoods! DO NOT ELECT TO ANY OFFICE!
These guys are honest..Now that is what is the scariest part. No bit of machinery is going to help..People don't know how to chose leaders!
The best lies contain the seeds of truth. Furthermore, sometimes people will look you right in the face and say they are evil, and we ignore it because they seem so nice. People react to the power (we want to be on the good side of those with power) and to the fact that given a new leader, things could get even worse. As the Russian Tsar Nicolas Romanov said to Joe Stalin, "Better the devil you know."*
Peter Paul and Mary had this special on PBS some years ago in which one of them said that politicians should be required to sing, because he believes it is not possible to lie convincingly while singing. I doubt Pert, Paul and Mary have seen many boy bands or notice how corporate media defanged and commercialized rap. Still, given the popularity of American Idol, I see no reason why we shouldn't just give in a choose a president the same way.
*That never really happened. I made that up. I lie for a living. Sue me.
Furthermore, sometimes people will look you right in the face and say they are evil,
True, it won't solve all the world's ills. I did specify an unambiguous answer to an unambiguous question. If Susie gets herself killed because she didn't take several years of being told "I'm gonna kill ya" by Steve, even with his fizzyplexer glowing scarlet and emitting a strange whistling tone, then I'm sorry, but I find my sympathy for her running thin.
I probably shouldn't say that, but you can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink. She really ought to have spotted the warning signs (and if a large flashing red light and whistling coming from Steve's fizzyplexer in response to the question "do you really want to kill me?" isn't a warning sign, I don't know what is!)
Posts 4,231 - 4,242 of 6,170
Another very good reason why the technology's better employed in the hands of those who want to be sure they're being told the truth, not those who have an interest in only seemingly to be speaking the truth.
I want a scanner, or I too am off to the woods to join a commune when this technology arrives. But I'm reasonably optimistic that it's no harder to implement that way, and that enough people will agree to tip the balance that way.
I want a scanner, or I too am off to the woods to join a commune when this technology arrives. But I'm reasonably optimistic that it's no harder to implement that way, and that enough people will agree to tip the balance that way.
Then they could be gently educated by completely honest discussion with no subtexts. But there's no doubt in my mind that Bush knew the case for WMD's in Iraq was at best very shaky. Or the people who briefed him did.
He exaggerated and gambled. And ultimately we all lose out, even (perhaps especially,) the Iraqi people.
He exaggerated and gambled. And ultimately we all lose out, even (perhaps especially,) the Iraqi people.
But people with sane attitudes can probably use technology constructively in various ways. If someone wants to transform themselves into a more honest person, they probably don't need a fizzyplexer, but it might speed things up.
Any man that can say things like: "I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy."—Redwood, Calif., Sept. 27, 2000
One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected."—Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000
The reason we start a war is to fight a war, win a war, thereby causing no more war!"
--The first Presidential debate
It beats Cananda's Ralph Klein and Steven Harper famous lines, at least Klein admits he drank too much. Just before Christmas one year, he dropped by an Edmonton homeless shelter, extremely drunk, and verbally abused the residents, offering them all "bus tickets to Vancouver" where they could enjoy the superior social assistance of the province of British Columbia. After the story broke, he admitted that he was an alcoholic (not news to anyone who had ever seen him in public) and vowed to do his best never to drink again.
Now how is a box going to help?
One of the common denominators I have found is that expectations rise above that which is expected."—Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000
The reason we start a war is to fight a war, win a war, thereby causing no more war!"
--The first Presidential debate
It beats Cananda's Ralph Klein and Steven Harper famous lines, at least Klein admits he drank too much. Just before Christmas one year, he dropped by an Edmonton homeless shelter, extremely drunk, and verbally abused the residents, offering them all "bus tickets to Vancouver" where they could enjoy the superior social assistance of the province of British Columbia. After the story broke, he admitted that he was an alcoholic (not news to anyone who had ever seen him in public) and vowed to do his best never to drink again.
Now how is a box going to help?
Prob123 4232:
Yes, I think that is often so; for example, to drag their feet on global warming is not in anyone's long-term interest, I should think. Moral idiocy does not guarantee Machiavellian brilliance.
Yes, I think that is often so; for example, to drag their feet on global warming is not in anyone's long-term interest, I should think. Moral idiocy does not guarantee Machiavellian brilliance.
Even when our leaders tell the truth it is frightening. Ralph Klein when a case of mad cow disease was discovered in Alberta, he stated openly that the rancher in question should have "shot, shovelled and shut up."
Hey this guy is telling the TRUTH..as he saw it.
Jean Chrétien (1934-)
"A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof and when you have a good proof it's because it's proven."
These guys are honest..Now that is what is the scariest part. No bit of machinery is going to help..People don't know how to chose leaders!
Hey this guy is telling the TRUTH..as he saw it.
Jean Chrétien (1934-)
"A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It's a proof. A proof is a proof and when you have a good proof it's because it's proven."
These guys are honest..Now that is what is the scariest part. No bit of machinery is going to help..People don't know how to chose leaders!
Hey this guy is telling the TRUTH..as he saw it.
Yes, but only built on a lifetime of lies. He's a politician - he figures he can say that and play to some constituency or other that won't press him hard on matters of "what he really believes".
You just need the opportunity to put the question "do you really believe that, or are you just pandering to a denialist lobby in pursuit of a few more votes come the next election" while you're pointing an i-Truth at him. And preferably while everyone in earshot is also pointing their i-Truths at him.
What you need, in that case, is a best friend or committed significant other you really trust to take you aside and say, "Remember when you asked me to call you on your tendency to stretch the truth?..." I have few friends I would allow to do that without the ego activating my defenses, but if you really worked on it and were really close it could work. Or maybe you'd lose a friend or get a divorce. Maybe that's why people pay shrinks, believe in preists and gurus, and keep diaries.
Meditation has it's advantages, if you practice. I suppose you could add some biofeedback if you like. The thing is, you have to check yourself if you want that sort of honesty in your life. The rest is between you and your shadow.
The best lies contain the seeds of truth. Furthermore, sometimes people will look you right in the face and say they are evil, and we ignore it because they seem so nice. People react to the power (we want to be on the good side of those with power) and to the fact that given a new leader, things could get even worse. As the Russian Tsar Nicolas Romanov said to Joe Stalin, "Better the devil you know."*
Peter Paul and Mary had this special on PBS some years ago in which one of them said that politicians should be required to sing, because he believes it is not possible to lie convincingly while singing. I doubt Pert, Paul and Mary have seen many boy bands or notice how corporate media defanged and commercialized rap. Still, given the popularity of American Idol, I see no reason why we shouldn't just give in a choose a president the same way.
*That never really happened. I made that up. I lie for a living. Sue me.
True, it won't solve all the world's ills. I did specify an unambiguous answer to an unambiguous question. If Susie gets herself killed because she didn't take several years of being told "I'm gonna kill ya" by Steve, even with his fizzyplexer glowing scarlet and emitting a strange whistling tone, then I'm sorry, but I find my sympathy for her running thin.
I probably shouldn't say that, but you can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink. She really ought to have spotted the warning signs (and if a large flashing red light and whistling coming from Steve's fizzyplexer in response to the question "do you really want to kill me?" isn't a warning sign, I don't know what is!)
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