Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Mar 20, 2006 03:01

A short, easy one for today. On lying, hiding, cheating and other dishonesty.

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introspection, myself, psyche

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Comments 12

swestrup March 20 2006, 08:47:02 UTC
Life is stuff. Hmmm. Not as deep as I'd planned, but its the best I can do right now. I pretty much agree with what you said, modulo some definitions. Some folks would no doubt disagree with you on, for instance, what constitutes cheating.

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pphaneuf March 20 2006, 09:22:46 UTC
I'd define cheating a doing something your significant other(s) wouldn't consent to. If you're not sure and you feel the need to keep it hidden, it probably is cheating. Not a ridiculously strict and proper definition, but I think it is general enough that it should apply just as well to conventional monogamous relationships as it would to wacky polyfidelity crop-circles thingies.

The comment about cheating on me being difficult and requiring a special level of evilness that I'd rather not associate with, would indeed be more specific to myself. See the name of the tag I use for those posts, in case of confusion. ;-)

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swestrup March 20 2006, 09:37:24 UTC
I don't disagree. I was just trying to point out, in my befuddled manner, that I know of some monogamists who would state that all extra-marital affairs are cheating even if each of the married couple knows about it, and consents to it!

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pphaneuf March 20 2006, 09:39:46 UTC
Yeah, I know. I try to keep nutcases out of my life, as much as I can. ;-)

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sfllaw March 20 2006, 16:52:10 UTC
You and I have quite differing views on this, actually. But that makes sense, since we have both thought quite hard upon the subject.

I disagree with your assertion that dishonesty breaks down communication. This is a common misconception among geeks because when you can't tell what a person is saying at face value, the primary communications channel becomes significantly more noisy.

However, us geeks often forget that the spectrum is much wider. And if we pay attention to all the communication that happens, you'll find that dishonesty does not reduce the total signal you're getting. In fact, you can extract much more information if someone isn't being forthright. Much like photography, you have to pay attention to the negative space ( ... )

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azrhey March 20 2006, 17:49:50 UTC
And I think I stand somewhere between the both of you ( ... )

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sfllaw March 20 2006, 17:58:10 UTC
I'd be mortified, because I really do taste everything that comes out my kitchen!

But I'd probably be the first to complain, after tasting it. And we'd all have a good laugh at my forgetfulness.

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azrhey March 20 2006, 18:01:12 UTC
it is a question of perception.

if you taste it yourself and find it lack salt but i say nothing, on the contrary say " yes yes it is very good it doesnt lack anything", wouldnt it be worse?

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azrhey March 20 2006, 17:52:02 UTC
see my comment to Simon on my opinion of white lies and ommission.

I mostly agree with you,
mostly but not completely.

:)

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sorceror March 20 2006, 23:50:34 UTC
Actually, I'm a bit the opposite. In the past I would have said that cheating it unforgiveable, ever, period. But now... I'm less sure that it can never be forgiven.

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pphaneuf March 23 2006, 04:59:51 UTC
Never is a pretty big word, I'd say. But it'd definitely take some significant amount of time to rebuild the trust.

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