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Is it still a lie if you don't know it isn't true?

If you tell someone something with certainty, believing that it is true but it isn't really true, are you lying? I personally believe it is lying, although it's far more innocent that knowingly lying. I've heard others say it isn't.

Personally I believe that we have a responsibility to make sure that what we are sharing with others is true before sharing it as truth. I don't think we are entirely off the hook when we spread lies unwittingly. Of course, I think we all do that at times and I don't think it's a fatal flaw.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: I realize I got a little off track when writing my question. The question I'm more interested in is it is still a lie if you don't know it isn't true.

For example, if 100 people told me the moon was made of cheese and every single one of them believed that it really was, does that change the nature of the idea that they shared with me? Could you still say, you've been lied to, even though the intent of every person who told me the moon was made of cheese was never to deceive me?

UpsideDownAgain 7 May 18
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63 comments (51 - 63)

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1

Different people can have different truths. From the point of view of a committed theist, if I was to tell him that his particular god cannot exist, then he is perfectly entitled to call me mistaken as to fact, but he is not entitled to call me a liar.

0

Is that why, when politicians get caught stating an untruth, they use the old term, "I mis-spoke!" Kinda what Turtle Neck had to do on F*cks News last week! 🀣 Larry in western Kentucky

0

Only when not part of the administration and talking to the FBI.

0

I would disagree where you say "it's far more innocent than knowingly lying." My issue is with believers who proselytize knowing that something is wrong somewhere, because their beliefs are at odds with reality. What is wrong is that they are too lazy to find out the truth, and to thus discover their cherished beliefs are wrong. It's not that innocent, and actually is much closer to lying.

0

of course you would be lying if you said something that was not true, whether you "believed" it or not? So fwiw ill tell you that eat the manna and manna is called What is it? not for nothing, and also not for why "believers" (wise in their own eyes) think prolly

he who says he knows does not yet know as he ought

0

You can purvey a lie without lying. You cannot be said to be lying if you believe what you are saying, but yiu are still believing and purveying lies, SOMEONE's lies. Being incorrect is neithetying nor necessarily purveying a lie, if you are asked the time and you think it is noon and it's not, you are not lying, nor are you purveying a lie, when you say it's ten. If someone tells you it's ten, knowing full well it's noon, and you innocently tell someone else it is ten, you are not lying but you are purveying someone else's lie. It is a lie because it is a falsehood told on purpose. You are not a liar but it is still a lie.

g

0

I think there are cases of people saying things that are not true, knowing they are not true, but not having intention to deceive.

In these situations, it's more of an instinct or reflex - which means no intention.

For the people talking about intention to deceive, would you think of that situation?

0

"If you tell someone something with certainty, believing that it is true but (you know) it isn't really true, are you lying?" 'With certainty' means without doubt, so if you are certain of something and you say it isn't what it is, that's a lie. And, as someone else noted, lies are intended to deceive, and we all learn how to lie, some are more proficient than others. GROG

GROG Level 6 May 18, 2020
0

There are many levels of communication complex and woven through technology censorship and mis-quotation error....simple word order error can make false statements appear true.... a statement could be illegal yet 100% true ....thus Julian Assange is dying in prison for reporting USA war crimes

0

It's not a lie if you hedge it with something like, "According to Mr. X, ..." At least it is not your own lie. It could still be Mr. X's lie.

0

Vodka with ice please!

0

Perhaps the difference is the reason for feeling certain that something is true. If someone has some valid evidence to support the certainty of somrthing that is believed but not completely accurate, then I wouldn't say it was a lie when additional evidence discovered demands a revision of the belief.

I'm thinking of the progression of scientific discoveries which evolved over time. The structure of the atom for one went through numerous revisions as did the orbits of planets. I wouldn't call these interim models a lie simply because they were not completely correct. We might want to consider that our current understanding of various concept today could be considered lies because our understanding based on current evidence is not completely correct.

0

They teach information verification in schools:
[learning.blogs.nytimes.com]
There may be an age group of adults that missed out on this. Also some people seek out misinformation to make certain, (misguided), points. Some newspapers seem to make a crust out of it!
I mainly just check the information, if I think it might be wrong. I like some papers and magazines, there are some I’d always check the information in. Also legalese can make information sound different to the facts, as my dad used to say when we saw a label 100% beef, β€˜yes, but what part of the beef?’.
Is it lying? It’s bending the truth πŸ˜‰ or being misguided.

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