Another possible motive that I missed
Submitted by Anonymous Warning on 2002-10-18 12:41:41, Friday
In reply to On lying submitted by Anonymous Warning on 2002-10-17 11:00:01, Thursday
| Psychological dysfunction. Some people lie without knowing it. This happens because they have a serious psychological condition like Schizophrenia (a condition that typically affects only 1% of the population). People with this condition or conditions like it live in a reality entirely different from our own. In their mind, the things they say are true, because they lived them. But someone without that psychological condition who knows this person would be able to tell you that none of it really happened, the things existed only in the person's own mind. Conditions like this can be treated with medication and psychotherapy, however many people are not aware they have the condition, and others choose not to undergo treatment for x or y reason (blame the movie A Beautiful Mind for promoting this stupid strategy). While I dont know what the motivations of people who lie online might be, this is another possibility. It is a remote one (after all, only 1% of the population suffers from this condition), but it is possible nonetheless. If this is the case, then we cannot really blame the person because as far as they know, they are being truthful. |
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