Why do people believe lies?

I literally just watched a video of Boris getting out of a car in his jogging gear and then jogging a short distance into a building.

I think maybe politicians just try to sell themselves like newspapers

When so many in power are proven liars, why do we keep falling for the headlines instead of looking for the politician who could write the fine print at the end of the article

I think so too Witzend; they so want, or need, their version of the event to be true, so that the difficult, unpleasant and unpalatable version is written out and they can live with their version more easily. So, is that just a character fault? And if it's a repetitive thing, is that a mental illness/psychological imbalance?

One of the weirdest lies I see quite often are newspaper headlines.

People quote the headlines without even reading the article, especially if that headline is something they scroll past on social media..

An example of this we have probably all seen and thought daft when looking closer...

BRITAIN TO EXPERIENCE HEAVIEST SNOWFALL SINCE 1987

or some other weather related headline..

Every time I click into it at the bottom I eventually find a short paragraph along the lines of The Met Office website predicts average winter temperatures and no snowfall in January

It's just silly

Often because they want to believe them, IMO.

But a consummate liar, after enough lies have been told, convinces no one for ever surely? And they must know this, because they're aware that every one else was witness to what actually happened and what the real truth is. So we can assume that the truth of the matter is too difficult or unpleasant for them to live with, and they have to "rewrite" it in order for it to be palatable enough for them to carry on and live with. My point is, do they acknowledge, deep down and in private moments, the real truth or is the power of denial and self preservation so strong that they actually believe their invented version? And, for example, is this how BJ et al, have salved their consciences; knowing that the majority of the country recognises them as the consummate liars they are; but they've told themselves the narrative that "x" never happened, it was only the lesser lie of "z".

I think it is true that we believe lies because we so want them to be true. I believed Keir Starmer when he was running for leadership because I wanted him to be an honest and truthful man who when he made pledges would stick to them.
The disappointment is all the greater.

But being a consummate liar, doesn't necessarily mean you have any beliefs that fly in the face of what other people consider to be reason, Just that you try actively shape the world to suit yourself.

Of course in his time Galileo - was considered a liar with beleifs that flew in the face of all known science and was tried and rejected, until he 'wisely, recanted. More recently
The theory of Continental drift that explained that continents shift position on Earth's surface. was proposed by geophysicist and meteorologist Alfred Wegener in 1912, but was rejected by mainstream science at the time.

I find liars quite interesting, especially when I know that someone did something that had serious consequences for them and all those around them. Everyone witnessed it and knew the truth but, over the passage of time, the person concerned has "rewritten history" so that it's a completely different scenario to the actual event and bares little or no likeness to the truth. I don't know if this is straight out lying or if it's a mechanism of self preservation to avoid acknowledging and dealing with a difficult time in their lives that they've restructured to make it easier to live with. Lies come in many forms and I often wonder if this is why politicians appear to lie so much.

I typed a whole long message about extensive research into millenarian and apocalyptic religions and extrapolating to other (mis)beliefs, and then deleted it by accident. Probably just as well. In short:

Cognitive bias - searching for info/people that support your views

The fear factor - I am powerless, and afraid of those with power, this is my way of dealing with that/fighting back

Investment - I have given time, money, emotion etc to this so it must be, or will be, valuable

And what I probably shouldn’t call lazy thinking (I think the correct term is gestalt processing) - I have been told these things and it’s easier to keep believing them than to work my way through complex counter- information

I am sure there is lots more research from lots of other disciplines, but this is the area I am familiar with.

No one's said it needs more careful handling Whitewavemark.

Whitewavemark2

flump

Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays, 1950

Man is a credulous animal and must believe in something. In the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

But I am talking about no lack of good grounds, yet lies are still believed.

But surely the point is that people think there are good grounds for their beliefs. You may not regard them as such and dismiss them but that is a value judgement.
To me belief that the Trump election was rigged,is about as believable as most religious dogma. But there are people who believe both and think there is evidence to support their beliefs.

flump

Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays, 1950

Man is a credulous animal and must believe in something. In the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

But I am talking about no lack of good grounds, yet lies are still believed.

Smileless2012

Excellent posts M0nica. I was going to post the same thing Annie in response to Honeysuckleberries post about the supposed irrationality of people who believe in God. A good example of Prentice's post that this complex subject needs careful handling.

Why does it need any more careful handling than say other aspects of the human psyche? Aspects that have been happily discussed without question.

Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays, 1950

Man is a credulous animal and must believe in something. In the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.

Excellent posts M0nica. I was going to post the same thing Annie in response to Honeysuckleberries post about the supposed irrationality of people who believe in God. A good example of Prentice's post that this complex subject needs careful handling.

Yes, but you are not denying that Jackson committed serious crimes. What you are saying is that you find it uncomfortable to continue to enjoy his musical talent, but really I think that you can easily separate the two things.

I've been watching a programme called "love or money" where people are scammed online with fake profiles of would be suitors, and often lose thousands of pounds with their lies and promises.

They never seem to see what's going on.

They never seem to see the obvious, so I suppose if you're a good con artist, which Johnson was, you can fool people.

Shame really.

Yes it is a thought provoking subject.
I have always been a fan of Michael Jackson, his music, his dancing , loved watching him. However, no matter what the
evidence is against him I find it sooooo hard to believe any
of it. Just don't want to and turn away from it.

M0nica

No, I am not trying to take the high moral ground, in fact I am trying to avoid it as so often the high moral ground is occupied by those who know very little about a subject and are devoid of insight.

Then why not tell us what you believe Monica? Some of us do know something about this, but not as much as you do, so we’d value your insight.

Galaxy

I sort of agree with Monica, I think for example Bidens administration has made some mistakes but it's almost impossible to discuss this because the narrative is Trump = bad, Biden =good, no one is immune to believing things they want to believe.

No I don’t think that is right, and it isn’t really what I’m talking about.

I’m not talking about value judgements but about beliefs that are not based on evidence.

No, I am not trying to take the high moral ground, in fact I am trying to avoid it as so often the high moral ground is occupied by those who know very little about a subject and are devoid of insight.

Yes, I’m sure every one of us has a belief that is very hard to justify, but why?

What I do think is that The Enlightenment tried to (and did to a large extent) base belief on reason and fact. That was 200+ years ago and yet some unreasonable beliefs remain so entrenched that we hardly appear to have moved on at all.

Honeysuckleberries I believe in God you don’t, so I am
irrational and you are rational, how interesting

I sort of agree with Monica, I think for example Bidens administration has made some mistakes but it's almost impossible to discuss this because the narrative is Trump = bad, Biden =good, no one is immune to believing things they want to believe.

I completely agree Monica
It’s a very complex subject that needs careful handling.
On a social media site it appears to be a rather contentious comment as it mentions posters on GN, as if wanting others to agree that posters are wrong and that they believe out and out lies. I haven’t seen any evidence of this so far.
As other posters mention, there are many beliefs such as ghosts, reincarnation, even religion in various forms that humans implicitly believe.