October 5, 2003
Lies, All Lies. "Americans
have grown tired," one of our far-flung correspondents wrote recently.
"Tired of being lied to and misled by analysts, bureaucrats, the media, et
al who connive to misstate the degree of risk that is being assumed."
The post inspired a missive
from our friend Ken Smith: Also lied to by Presidents, Senators, Congress
members. Lied to by traders, press, marketing. Lied to by software
sellers. Lied to by CNBC. Lied to by Public Broadcasting. Lied to
by corporate leaders. Lied to by the local papers, lied to by national
papers, lied to by Democrats, lied to by Republicans, lied to by friends, lied
to by lovers, lied to by preachers, lied to by rabbis, lied to by ayatollahs,
lied to by local politicians, lied to by national politicians, just plain lied
to from every direction.
So the risk of living today
involves defense against lies. I must assume that risk. I must be a
skeptic. I have a sign in a frame, like an important portrait, hanging on
my den wall and it says "THEY'RE LYING."
The Torah is replete with
examples of deceit. Man was born in a bed of lies so to say.
Animals use camouflage as deceit. Some creatures take shape of ordinary
objects to lie to predators. Moths make themselves to appear as harmless
butterflies, stick bug looks like a stick to lie to hunting birds, creatures
are born to lie.
To lie is to protect
oneself. I fool myself if I think the other person will not lie to
protect herself or his territory or person. I cannot live without
embellishing, it is built in. To think we can follow the New Testament
and be truthful is to deceive ourselves. In fact, that document
admonishes its followers to protect themselves among the wolves they are sent
to live among, and to lie is to save lives.
Lies are ubiquitous - we
cannot escape them. Under these conditions we must take responsibility
for our property, lives, families, jobs, money, and so on. The adage
"Let the buyer beware" applies to all phases and segments and parts
of our lives.
All advertising is a
lie. For instance, you see an ad which says "Save Now, Buy
Today" and you should wonder what that means. How can you save by
spending? To save means to put money away for safekeeping, to spend later
for something in the future; `save' does not mean `spend.' All those
half-exposed titties you see in advertisements are an inducement. It is a lie
that you can have those titties, but your mind twists its sexual neurons to
excite you to buy some object because it is associated with those luscious
titties which those dumb neurons think they can enjoy.
Americans are not taught
logic, not taught to reason, not taught to think for themselves and that is why
they succumb to lies.
Begin with
skepticism. Try atheism for awhile. Try disbelieving every dogma,
doctrine, constitution, scripture, textbook, newspaper, writer, poet, academic,
doctor, politician, preacher, rabbi and all so-called holy men. Get some
experience in distrust. Don't believe everything you read. Even seeing is
not trustworthy, think of the creatures that deceive you about their identity.
Here are a few valuable
titles.
1.- Clear Thinking,
by Hy Ruchlis
2.- Historians' Fallacies,
by David Hackett Fischer
3.- Fallacy, The
Counterfeit of Argument, by W. Ward Fearnside and William B. Holther
5.- Subscribe to Skeptic
Magazine.