On lying
Submitted by Anonymous Warning on 2002-10-17 11:00:01, Thursday
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It is common to find people online who are not what they claim to be. They have various motives for what they do. Some just for fun (they like to live out these fantasies in their head and sharing them with someone gives them a means of living out that fantasy mentally), some for attention, and some simply like to play with other people's feelings (they enjoy the power they have over someone else's feelings). A common tactic of such people is to gather sympathy by creating a fictitious situation that naturally makes us feel sorry for the person. For example, I recall being fooled by someone whose original claim was that he was a 14 year old with a terminal illness. As time goes on, their stories get wilder and less believable, but by then it is too late because they have garnered your trust and you are now in the palm of their hands, you will now believe anything. Another common tactic is to play various roles. The person that fooled me played three roles, A father and his two children. Done properly, this can be very effective. A liar who is very interested in what hes doing will be careful enough to give each personality a different style of writing, a different level of comprehension, a different amount of spelling mistakes, etc. In conclusion, I just want to make you all aware that such people exist. While it may be perfectly ok to allow these people to live out their mental fantasies, be wary in case their goal is to manipulate your emotions. When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. When something sounds too unbelievable to be true, thats because it isnt true. Im not saying you should suspect everyone on the board. Im just saying be careful who you trust and be alert, dont let someone take you for an emotional ride. Its happened to me, and it isnt nice. |
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