Re: virus: Advice, and lies
Mark Hornberger (markhornberger@nietzsche.net)
Sat, 05 Apr 1997 18:14:37 -0600
At 09:31 PM 4/4/97 -0500, you wrote:
>This revelation strikes me as particularly true, today:
>
>1) The most useful piece of advice you can ever give anyone is:
> "Don't listen to me, I'm trying to manipulate you to my advantage."
>
Ah, but most useful to whom? And if I'm trying to tell you that your house
is on fire, and you refuse to listen out of a belief that I'm just trying
to get mine... well, I hope your insurance was current. Of course, if I
was an insurance salesman... but then I would have had to warn you before
the fact, but if I already knew it was going up in flames, I wouldn't want
to insure you anyway... but don't listen to me; I'm trying to manipulate
you to my advantage. I'm just unclear on what my advantage would be. Care
to clarify?
>2) The most deceitful lie is:
> "Do as I say, not as I do."
>
>Reed
But what if I'm one of those rare birds that also does what I say? Hmmm, a
dilemma. #2 isn't framed as a statement of fact anyway, but a command,
ergo it can't be a lie, anyway. And how is one lie inherently more
deceitful than the next? By definition, a lie is a lie, no?
--Mark