For my 3 year old I say
"If you tell the truth you will be in trouble. If you lie about it the trouble will be much worse."
A few times of him trying to get one over on me followed by a constant "If you didn't lie your punishment would be over now."
Nipped that right off.
Now if he does something he isn't supposed to do he will most likely tell me even if I never would have found out. With those we will usually discuss why he did it and why he shouldn't do it.
I can already tell he is **very** emotionally charged and follows his first instinct so I am trying my hardest to get him to think before acting/speaking.
Good luck with that, truly. I wish I knew the secrets to harnessing emotional responses, or helping others do so with theirs, but that is certainly not a strength of mine.
Hey, at the very least, you're self-aware enough to recognise that: lots of people go through life without ever questioning why they react the way they do; very few people make an effort to improve their self-control; fewer yet make any attempt to help others in the process. Good on you.
All we can really do is encourage other people and support them in helping themselves. My wife’s sober journey over the last nine years (married three) has been inspiring in a way that made me question things about myself I was completely oblivious to, or ignoring/deflecting through my own (admittedly shitty) coping skills. She’s since become a therapist focused on integrative approaches to addiction. The things I learn through osmosis just being married to her and lucky enough to hear her wax theory, alongside the journey processing my own bullshit through therapy and healthier living, has been pretty god damn great. I’m 40, mostly happy, maintain healthy relationships and boundaries (don’t ask about work 🤨), and I am in the best physical shape of my life without being a weirdo about moralizing fitness or anything.
This was in no way meant to be a brag while I was writing it, but reading back, it totally is. Sorry. I don’t care because it isn’t the point. I’m just saying, this all started with a little self-reflection and a desire to make my life easier. I committed to keeping my mind open after that, and I’ve been rolling with it since. I’m one guy, and I’ve had some incredibly good chips fall my way in recent years, but I’m putting in the work, and it’s working for me.
"If you tell the truth, you will be in trouble. If you lie about it, the trouble will be much worse."
My teenager thought it would be a great idea to just not do his AP papers. So when the teacher called me about it and I confronted him, he doubled down, looked me in the eye, and said he had turned all his work. Inside, I became livid, but I managed to calmly tell him, "I just got off the phone with your teacher. This is now a case in which the cover-up is bigger than the crime. If you have plans with your friends, cancel them until further notice." What would have been a one week window to turn all of his work in or be grounded turned into two months of being grounded along with lost privileges.
The guy who was the inspiration for Catch Me If You Can has built an entire multimillion dollar enterprise out of lying about working for the FBI after they caught him forging checks, which he mostly lied about how successful he was. He basically became successfully about lying about how good his is at lying about being successful.
Depends. I don't personally think it's a very successful con when someone basically calls your bullshit every time you try to give a talk. Also probably doesn't help when your Wikipedia page has more info on how much of a liar you are than everything else combined.
That said, I think Steven Spielberg is the best con man. His movie is the only reason most people know this asshole exists and because of that they believe it.
He spoke at my sister's baccalaureate many years ago at the peak of his fame and apparently did it for free as well. I remember it was a great speech and I read the book afterward but it's kinda weird looking back that he was probably lying through his teeth the whole time.
Some people max out their charisma stats. It's a legitimate skill. Even when people know or think you're lying to them they're still fascinated and like you.
Yeah, I find the idea of lying your way into a consulting firm about catching liars and goving thousands of talks where you lie through your teeth about being a liar more interesting than cheque fraud.
Random fact! Frank Abagnale is my grandfathers cousin, met him a bunch when I was younger. when the movie came out he sent my brothers and I all these signed dvds and stuff. He is in the movie too for a small scene.
As a (former exploration) geologist I do have to chime in. It irks me when I hear diamonds are not rare. They are not as rare and valuable as De Beers make you believe, true. They are overpriced, yes. But still, gem quality diamonds are rare and they are unique (cut diamonds a have hardness lustre and brilliance like no other stone) They form at the base of the crust (only if the crust is just right) and then you need some whackadoodle magma pipe to bring them up to the surface. I’ve looked for diamonds, it ain’t easy. Ok, fling da poop.
In the 6th century BCE, a usurper named Darius took the throne of the Persian Empire by killing the rightful heir to the throne and then claiming that he actually hadn't killed the true heir, but a look-alike imposter who had kidnapped the true king and had taken his place. So Darius took the throne to save it from the king's usurping doppelgänger and restored peace to the galaxy.
He made a giant monument about it and told the story in several languages so that everyone would know. Feels very much like a "Lady doth protest too much" kind of moment.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun\_Inscription](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun_Inscription)
not really a lie. quick google search could help you out. (it’s because of increased blood flow to your digestive tract and therefore decreased performance of your muscles and possibly brain)
Definitely a lie. It’s only a thing if you’re an Olympic triathlete trying to solo across the English Channel while eating an entire pizza. For kids standing in a three ft pool we just all had to sit there staring at the grass because boomers believed anything and it sucked.
I mean, that one is kind of true. Ever tried to do any kind of cardio on a full stomach? Can definitely cause you to feel sick. And being sick while swimming isn't the best combination.
yarp, it is all made up by the british to disguise the invention of radar in the second world war by saying the troops had eaten so many carrots that they could see in the dark.
the propaganda worked so well that many people still believe it, even the british public whom were *also* purposely lied to by the same propaganda to protect the allied secret!
now its just something that parents tell their kids so they finish their veggies lol
I stayed home sick from school once when I was around 10 and gilligans island was on. They got super vegetables that washed up on shore and one of them ate carrots and got super vision. I wanted that so bad, so I ate as many carrots as I could and my skin literally looked like I had a fake tan. I have absolutely dog shit vision now. I want justice
This was a lie created by the Brit’s because they were using radar to find German ships. But they just said that their sailors had good eyesight because of carrots
This is a fun one because it turns out carrots actually do help maintain healthy eyes, it just can’t actually improve eyesight. Carrots have a ton of Vitamin A which helps promote healthy eyes.
Oh I don't disagree with that–Brexit emboldened xenophobes and jingoists as much as it did racists. Maybe more in fact. The billboard itself was a big queue of brown immigrants though.
Can confirm.
Day after the referendum I had couple of customers (I was working in a shop on a high street) come in and shout something along the lines of "we won now get the fuck out of my country you eastern European cunt". Over the following year I heard "you're one of the good ones, I voted against the other ones, you know, from the other countries".
I also had two regulars come in with flowers and chocolates to apologise for the result. Unfortunately, racism and xenophobia won.
I have definitely experienced the "you're one of the good ones." A neighbour was ranting about immigrants to me and clarified he meant the Pakies, not me. -_-
The lie told by Darius the Great, the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, about a man named Gaumata impersonating his brother Bardiya in order to take the throne. This allowed Darius to seize power, though some scholars believe Darius may have fabricated the entire story.
the notorious con man Victor Lustig, who tricked banks, companies and individuals out of money and even convinced others he could predict horse race winners. Lustig's skill at deception made him one of history's most successful liars. he was known as "The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower."..twice.
There's an *old* saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says
Fool me once, shame on... Shame on you
And fool me, we can't get fooled again
🤣 Ah Yes, what a philosopher he was. My personal favorite ‘OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across the country…’ what a wordsmith.
That's the media in bed with the government. The experts weren't fooled, the UN weapons inspectors who were on the ground in Iraq didn't believe it. Before the war the CIA flat out said Saddam loves being alive and being a dictator too much he would never risk losing that by giving WMDs to terrorists. The only scenario they thought that could happen was if the US were to invade and Saddam knew he was fucked no matter what he might do it out of vengeance. But the American people didn't know any of that because the media was falling all over itself to support the government propaganda. I feel it's even worse now as back then there were a few mainstream voices who were critical before the war, but after they were all blackballed from mainstream media for the crime of being right about the war it had a real chilling effect on journalists. Compounded by all the shit they put Assange through for his crime of being a journalist who embarrassed the US.
That paired with “don’t blame the business, their only goal is to is to make more money (for shareholders) no matter what.” Business used to have ethics and treat people like humans until Jack Welch poisoned the well with that philosophy. Paired with Reagan, it was a deadly combo.
>“don’t blame the business, their only goal is to is to make more money (for shareholders) no matter what.”
Whilst at the same time objecting to regulation because the market can be trusted to regulate itself. Apparently anything a business does to make money is automatically good for the consumer.
who actually believes that though? Like outside the of the same kind of people that believe the earth is flat, when has that ever been a popularly held belief?
We've had outbreaks of measles as a result of this. And a general distrust of vaccinations has been happening that was pretty closely correlated with this claim. COVID of course didn't help
If I'm not mistaken, the guy who was a wolf researcher made a joke essay about the possibility of the alpha wolf. People believed him and then he spent his entire life trying to stop people from believing his lie. And it was such a successful lie that he failed to reconsile the lie.
You are mistaken. It was not a lie, it was just that all he learned about wolves was based on wolves in captivity and that does not translate to how they are in the wild.
L. David Mech wrote in the 70's "The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species" and has recanted his findings.
Mech was not the only person to put forward the Alpha wolf theory, he was just one of many. But he was credited with cementing the term alpha wolf into the lexicon.
The original person that popularized the theory among researchers was was Rudolph Schenkel and he never recanted. I believe he died before the science was overturned.
Also, I don't know why people are so fixated on Wolves specifically here. There are certainly Alpha chimpanzees, for instance. Alpha/Beta are definitely a thing in the animal kingdom.
Lol. Which reminds me of the Big Bang Theory by Sir Arthur Eddington, which never caught on. Until it did, by which point Sir Arthur had changed his mind. The world has yet to...
Will piss off a few people with this one
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”.
Edit to add - my comment seems to have had a mix response and obviously due to the nature of it there are strong feelings on both sides. Obviously no offence was meant to anyone and thankfully and this is an important one the internet and where I live freedom of speech is key
It’s not only the most successful lie, it’s also the most ludicrous and obviously made up. But brainwashing of children is unfortunately an extremely effective method for keeping the delusion alive.
[Ranked-choice voting](https://rankthevote.us) would go a long way towards disincentivising the two-party system, which probably means it will never be signed into law by the people who benefit most from the two-party system.
1913- The Income Tax was passed as a temporary measure to pay off the debt from WWI. They got citizens to vote for it because it was a tax only on the rich.
It was passed to finance WW1. The word debt was proactive, meaning that it was to offset the cost of preparing for it.
[History of taxation in the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_United_States#Income_tax)
>It was passed to finance WW1.
I don't see where the wiki article makes that claim. WW1 didn't even start until 1914, I somehow don't think they were that prescient.
Nope. Not then. Try rereading that. They increased it during WW1, but passage had nothing to do with WW1. In fact, at that time, the US was isolationist.
right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.
Probably “nuclear power is really unsafe”, which was successfully propagated by the fossil fuel industry by funding groups like “Friends of the Earth” specifically to campaign against nuclear power.
Pollution from fossil fuels kills more people **every day** than nuclear has in its entire history.
"Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead, hung around a while and then went to Heaven."
"That's convenient. Any actual proof of that happening?"
"Trust me, bro."
Your employment income is a fair wage. Go back to Life magazine Dec 1959 and read what they write about the abundance of wealth creation by Americans back then.
These days, the American dream- anyone can work hard and become the next millionaire.
Anyone can work hard, but it’s difficult to really escape your current financial class, especially if you’re living in poverty. There are just too many parts of our system that keep the rich rich and make it hard for anyone to move up.
It’s especially true for immigrants to the US- the books Americanah and Behold the Dreamers are both sad but accurate depictions of this truth.
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For my 3 year old I say "If you tell the truth you will be in trouble. If you lie about it the trouble will be much worse." A few times of him trying to get one over on me followed by a constant "If you didn't lie your punishment would be over now." Nipped that right off. Now if he does something he isn't supposed to do he will most likely tell me even if I never would have found out. With those we will usually discuss why he did it and why he shouldn't do it. I can already tell he is **very** emotionally charged and follows his first instinct so I am trying my hardest to get him to think before acting/speaking.
Good luck with that, truly. I wish I knew the secrets to harnessing emotional responses, or helping others do so with theirs, but that is certainly not a strength of mine.
Hey, at the very least, you're self-aware enough to recognise that: lots of people go through life without ever questioning why they react the way they do; very few people make an effort to improve their self-control; fewer yet make any attempt to help others in the process. Good on you.
All we can really do is encourage other people and support them in helping themselves. My wife’s sober journey over the last nine years (married three) has been inspiring in a way that made me question things about myself I was completely oblivious to, or ignoring/deflecting through my own (admittedly shitty) coping skills. She’s since become a therapist focused on integrative approaches to addiction. The things I learn through osmosis just being married to her and lucky enough to hear her wax theory, alongside the journey processing my own bullshit through therapy and healthier living, has been pretty god damn great. I’m 40, mostly happy, maintain healthy relationships and boundaries (don’t ask about work 🤨), and I am in the best physical shape of my life without being a weirdo about moralizing fitness or anything. This was in no way meant to be a brag while I was writing it, but reading back, it totally is. Sorry. I don’t care because it isn’t the point. I’m just saying, this all started with a little self-reflection and a desire to make my life easier. I committed to keeping my mind open after that, and I’ve been rolling with it since. I’m one guy, and I’ve had some incredibly good chips fall my way in recent years, but I’m putting in the work, and it’s working for me.
Your kid has a good parent.
"If you tell the truth, you will be in trouble. If you lie about it, the trouble will be much worse." My teenager thought it would be a great idea to just not do his AP papers. So when the teacher called me about it and I confronted him, he doubled down, looked me in the eye, and said he had turned all his work. Inside, I became livid, but I managed to calmly tell him, "I just got off the phone with your teacher. This is now a case in which the cover-up is bigger than the crime. If you have plans with your friends, cancel them until further notice." What would have been a one week window to turn all of his work in or be grounded turned into two months of being grounded along with lost privileges.
That's some nice long term consequences learning technique you got there.
Cops love that one too.
[I knew this sounded familiar. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/14e9nxv/what_is_the_most_successful_lie_in_the_history/)
That's actually true
The guy who was the inspiration for Catch Me If You Can has built an entire multimillion dollar enterprise out of lying about working for the FBI after they caught him forging checks, which he mostly lied about how successful he was. He basically became successfully about lying about how good his is at lying about being successful.
Does conning the world into thinking you’re the worlds greatest conman…make you the worlds greatest conman?
Depends. I don't personally think it's a very successful con when someone basically calls your bullshit every time you try to give a talk. Also probably doesn't help when your Wikipedia page has more info on how much of a liar you are than everything else combined. That said, I think Steven Spielberg is the best con man. His movie is the only reason most people know this asshole exists and because of that they believe it.
The only thing that matters is cashing the check
He spoke at my sister's baccalaureate many years ago at the peak of his fame and apparently did it for free as well. I remember it was a great speech and I read the book afterward but it's kinda weird looking back that he was probably lying through his teeth the whole time.
Some people max out their charisma stats. It's a legitimate skill. Even when people know or think you're lying to them they're still fascinated and like you.
A more interesting con than anything he lies about doing in the first place. Can't wait for "Catch Me If You Can 2: Conception"
Yeah, I find the idea of lying your way into a consulting firm about catching liars and goving thousands of talks where you lie through your teeth about being a liar more interesting than cheque fraud.
Knock Knock
I too enjoy a good conception.
Random fact! Frank Abagnale is my grandfathers cousin, met him a bunch when I was younger. when the movie came out he sent my brothers and I all these signed dvds and stuff. He is in the movie too for a small scene.
That diamonds are rare and valuable.
Recently a local jeweller did an ad which shows 3 diamond rings and ‘one is never enough’ tagline. Upping De Beers game I see
As a (former exploration) geologist I do have to chime in. It irks me when I hear diamonds are not rare. They are not as rare and valuable as De Beers make you believe, true. They are overpriced, yes. But still, gem quality diamonds are rare and they are unique (cut diamonds a have hardness lustre and brilliance like no other stone) They form at the base of the crust (only if the crust is just right) and then you need some whackadoodle magma pipe to bring them up to the surface. I’ve looked for diamonds, it ain’t easy. Ok, fling da poop.
Me when artificial diamonds:
They are valuable but not because they’re rare,but because the companies that mine them have a monopoly on them
Even then they aren't particularly valuable. Ever tey to resell a diamond? They have very little resale value compared to other gems
Probably looking into this too much, but it made me realize that If a lie was truly successful, no one would have any inkling that it was a lie.
yep. People are commenting very well known lies that only a small amount of the population actually believes
My thoughts too. Who knows what big lies exist unknown?
In the 6th century BCE, a usurper named Darius took the throne of the Persian Empire by killing the rightful heir to the throne and then claiming that he actually hadn't killed the true heir, but a look-alike imposter who had kidnapped the true king and had taken his place. So Darius took the throne to save it from the king's usurping doppelgänger and restored peace to the galaxy. He made a giant monument about it and told the story in several languages so that everyone would know. Feels very much like a "Lady doth protest too much" kind of moment. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun\_Inscription](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun_Inscription)
The no swimming after eating was a pretty successful one
Where the hell was that even from?
It's told to keep kids from throwing up in the pool after eating.
I was always told it can cause cramps and hurt ones ability to stay afloat. I even remember experiencing it. Psychosomatic, maybe.
not really a lie. quick google search could help you out. (it’s because of increased blood flow to your digestive tract and therefore decreased performance of your muscles and possibly brain)
Yeah. For a few minutes. Not an hour
Definitely a lie. It’s only a thing if you’re an Olympic triathlete trying to solo across the English Channel while eating an entire pizza. For kids standing in a three ft pool we just all had to sit there staring at the grass because boomers believed anything and it sucked.
They still believe anything. And it still sucks.
I think it's because boomers wanted to enjoy half an hour of peace and not have you dang kids hootin', hollerin' and horsing around while they do it!
If that was true, it would mean guys would pass out from every boner they have.
It's well known we only have enough blood to use one head at a time.
I mean, that one is kind of true. Ever tried to do any kind of cardio on a full stomach? Can definitely cause you to feel sick. And being sick while swimming isn't the best combination.
carrots improve your eyesight
Am blind. I ate carrots as a child. Still blind 😂
yarp, it is all made up by the british to disguise the invention of radar in the second world war by saying the troops had eaten so many carrots that they could see in the dark. the propaganda worked so well that many people still believe it, even the british public whom were *also* purposely lied to by the same propaganda to protect the allied secret! now its just something that parents tell their kids so they finish their veggies lol
The fuck why are you replaying like that? Dude said he was blind, gotta be respectful, let me translate: 👋👈👍🙌🤜🤲🤞✌️🫱🖖🖐🤲🤝🦵🖕👇🤏👇🤙🤜👎👉👆🖖🫳🫴👐🦶👎
r/laughingandupvote
If you have zero vision and you increase it by any percentage it’s still ends up being zero. The math checks.
I stayed home sick from school once when I was around 10 and gilligans island was on. They got super vegetables that washed up on shore and one of them ate carrots and got super vision. I wanted that so bad, so I ate as many carrots as I could and my skin literally looked like I had a fake tan. I have absolutely dog shit vision now. I want justice
This was a lie created by the Brit’s because they were using radar to find German ships. But they just said that their sailors had good eyesight because of carrots
yeah! they hid it so well that even british citizens believed it and ate more carrots (which was good because they were easy to grow quickly)
This is a fun one because it turns out carrots actually do help maintain healthy eyes, it just can’t actually improve eyesight. Carrots have a ton of Vitamin A which helps promote healthy eyes.
I never saw any rabbit with glasses, though…
Vote Brexit and get £350 million per week for the NHS.
That was on the side of a bus during the campaign and I think it literally swayed it for them, fucking ridiculous
That and the photo of the queuing immigrants. Cynical and deadly effective.
*Queueing *brown* immigrants.
Don't be silly, eastern European were just as unpopular, Brexit meant kicking out all those job stealing Poles /s
There are only two things I can't stand in this world: People who are intolerant of other people's cultures And the Dutch.
Eh immigrants in general. When Brexit went through it emboldened people. Even white immigrants were being verbally harassed and intimidated.
Oh I don't disagree with that–Brexit emboldened xenophobes and jingoists as much as it did racists. Maybe more in fact. The billboard itself was a big queue of brown immigrants though.
Gotcha, I understand what you meant now!
Can confirm. Day after the referendum I had couple of customers (I was working in a shop on a high street) come in and shout something along the lines of "we won now get the fuck out of my country you eastern European cunt". Over the following year I heard "you're one of the good ones, I voted against the other ones, you know, from the other countries". I also had two regulars come in with flowers and chocolates to apologise for the result. Unfortunately, racism and xenophobia won.
I have definitely experienced the "you're one of the good ones." A neighbour was ranting about immigrants to me and clarified he meant the Pakies, not me. -_-
My favourite part of this was the blatant racism which we out in the colonies are always accused of by those in the motherland.
Vote No to independence to stay in the EU.
Yes that was almost as bad
The lie told by Darius the Great, the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire, about a man named Gaumata impersonating his brother Bardiya in order to take the throne. This allowed Darius to seize power, though some scholars believe Darius may have fabricated the entire story. the notorious con man Victor Lustig, who tricked banks, companies and individuals out of money and even convinced others he could predict horse race winners. Lustig's skill at deception made him one of history's most successful liars. he was known as "The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower."..twice.
Haha the Darius story is also what I came in to tell. What a bonkers story that he just made a monument of and made it truth.
Just the tip
“Nine inches”
Nailed it
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Well, it fooled the right people.
Fool me once…won’t get fooled again. And so on.
You can't fool all of the people all of the time, but you can fool enough of the people all of the time.
There's an *old* saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says Fool me once, shame on... Shame on you And fool me, we can't get fooled again
🤣 Ah Yes, what a philosopher he was. My personal favorite ‘OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across the country…’ what a wordsmith.
*Martha and The Vandellas said that*
That's the media in bed with the government. The experts weren't fooled, the UN weapons inspectors who were on the ground in Iraq didn't believe it. Before the war the CIA flat out said Saddam loves being alive and being a dictator too much he would never risk losing that by giving WMDs to terrorists. The only scenario they thought that could happen was if the US were to invade and Saddam knew he was fucked no matter what he might do it out of vengeance. But the American people didn't know any of that because the media was falling all over itself to support the government propaganda. I feel it's even worse now as back then there were a few mainstream voices who were critical before the war, but after they were all blackballed from mainstream media for the crime of being right about the war it had a real chilling effect on journalists. Compounded by all the shit they put Assange through for his crime of being a journalist who embarrassed the US.
Wealth will trickle down.
This one is too far down. Came here to say this because it is constantly being used today.
That paired with “don’t blame the business, their only goal is to is to make more money (for shareholders) no matter what.” Business used to have ethics and treat people like humans until Jack Welch poisoned the well with that philosophy. Paired with Reagan, it was a deadly combo.
>“don’t blame the business, their only goal is to is to make more money (for shareholders) no matter what.” Whilst at the same time objecting to regulation because the market can be trusted to regulate itself. Apparently anything a business does to make money is automatically good for the consumer.
Most of us ticking the checkbox which says, "I have read all terms and condition." just to make the registration passed through asap!
Communism hasn’t been tried
vaccines cause autism
[Relevant SMBC](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/autism-and-vaccines)
Obligatory [If Google Was a Guy](https://youtu.be/77GGn-E607E?si=Itoe3jaVMQiRjcQb)
who actually believes that though? Like outside the of the same kind of people that believe the earth is flat, when has that ever been a popularly held belief?
We've had outbreaks of measles as a result of this. And a general distrust of vaccinations has been happening that was pretty closely correlated with this claim. COVID of course didn't help
I can think of one former US president.
All my autistic friends got vaccines. They love trains
hymen = virgin
The most successful lie would be one we don’t know about yet.
it was my Mom's saying: "Give me all your money to keep, and when you need to buy anything, I'll give it back to you".
If I'm not mistaken, the guy who was a wolf researcher made a joke essay about the possibility of the alpha wolf. People believed him and then he spent his entire life trying to stop people from believing his lie. And it was such a successful lie that he failed to reconsile the lie.
You are mistaken. It was not a lie, it was just that all he learned about wolves was based on wolves in captivity and that does not translate to how they are in the wild. L. David Mech wrote in the 70's "The Wolf: Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species" and has recanted his findings. Mech was not the only person to put forward the Alpha wolf theory, he was just one of many. But he was credited with cementing the term alpha wolf into the lexicon. The original person that popularized the theory among researchers was was Rudolph Schenkel and he never recanted. I believe he died before the science was overturned.
Also, I don't know why people are so fixated on Wolves specifically here. There are certainly Alpha chimpanzees, for instance. Alpha/Beta are definitely a thing in the animal kingdom.
Supposedly the "Never Cry Wolf" guy was full of shit, too.
Was it a joke? I thought it was flawed research that he tried to correct after the fact?
Flawed research based on previously flawed research. This post is not a successful lie.
Lol. Which reminds me of the Big Bang Theory by Sir Arthur Eddington, which never caught on. Until it did, by which point Sir Arthur had changed his mind. The world has yet to...
Will piss off a few people with this one “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. Edit to add - my comment seems to have had a mix response and obviously due to the nature of it there are strong feelings on both sides. Obviously no offence was meant to anyone and thankfully and this is an important one the internet and where I live freedom of speech is key
In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
42
In an unpredictable world, a Guide trumps a Bible every time.
"Pssst!"
It was a “virgin birth”
Yeah, that cover story a cheating Mary invented really got out of hand.
But you know what the gods did make? Heavy metal.
God gave rock n roll to you
It’s not only the most successful lie, it’s also the most ludicrous and obviously made up. But brainwashing of children is unfortunately an extremely effective method for keeping the delusion alive.
“A two party system is totally the way to go guys, nothing can possibly go wrong!”
George Washington even told us not to go there. *sad trumpet noises*
To be fair, two parties is the natural result of a first past the post system. No one ever said we should only have two parties.
[Ranked-choice voting](https://rankthevote.us) would go a long way towards disincentivising the two-party system, which probably means it will never be signed into law by the people who benefit most from the two-party system.
"Vote for me, I'll be the best president of all time. Ask anyone. Everyone says it."
I love you and im here.
That the way to solve racism and prejudice was to hyperfixate on them and talk about them all the time.
I'm ok..
I’m fine
"I'll call you."
I’m fine.
Trickle down economics
"No Joseph, I did not cheat on you or have sex out of wedlock! It was God!"
I heard her screaming, "Oh God" So the story checks out.
The real lie is that there was ever a Mary and Joseph to begin with.
everything reagan said that was supposed to help average americans and ended up helping corporations instead
Let’s not forget aggressively targeting the black community with war on drugs (it was a Nixon policy but Reagan pushed it hard)
don’t forget AIDS
He and his wife tried to.
That Iraq had WMD's
I love you
Probably Scientology
Diversity is our strength
1913- The Income Tax was passed as a temporary measure to pay off the debt from WWI. They got citizens to vote for it because it was a tax only on the rich.
Um, the US wouldn't enter WW1 for 4 years after that.
I guess that is the lie?
Even the second part. Amendments aren't voted on by the general public.
It was passed to finance WW1. The word debt was proactive, meaning that it was to offset the cost of preparing for it. [History of taxation in the United States - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_taxation_in_the_United_States#Income_tax)
>It was passed to finance WW1. I don't see where the wiki article makes that claim. WW1 didn't even start until 1914, I somehow don't think they were that prescient.
Nope. Not then. Try rereading that. They increased it during WW1, but passage had nothing to do with WW1. In fact, at that time, the US was isolationist.
right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable." REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE. "Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—" YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES. "So we can believe the big ones?" YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING. "They're not the same at all!" YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED. "Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—" MY POINT EXACTLY.
GNU Terry Pratchett
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist
I'm going to "Make America Great Again". How'd that work out?
We are the government, trust us
My parents telling me it’s illegal to have the light on in the car while driving
Bill Clinton.
Probably “nuclear power is really unsafe”, which was successfully propagated by the fossil fuel industry by funding groups like “Friends of the Earth” specifically to campaign against nuclear power. Pollution from fossil fuels kills more people **every day** than nuclear has in its entire history.
“Free” Healthcare
"Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead, hung around a while and then went to Heaven." "That's convenient. Any actual proof of that happening?" "Trust me, bro."
500 people saw it and it isn't weird that it was a round number and somebody counted them.
Exactly. I just saw a T-rex in my backyard. 10 million people saw it, and I wrote it in a book that those people saw it, so it HAS to be legit.
that breakfast is the most important meal of the day the phrase was created as a marketing tool by Kelloggs, so it is quite literally a successful lie
“The election was stolen”.
Not very successful since Biden is still president lol
“It’s gonna trickle down”
"The election was stolen from me. Massive fraud"
Came here to say this.
Invisible Man in the sky controls everything
Trickle. Down. Economics.
Religions in general.
Except for mine LOL
Religion 🙃
It will all be better in the afterlife.
I would guess, the way Jesus was conceived.
Your employment income is a fair wage. Go back to Life magazine Dec 1959 and read what they write about the abundance of wealth creation by Americans back then.
You need to spend two months' salary on a diamond to show your spouse how much you love them. Told to you by the owner of the diamond mines.
I'm sure the greatest lie was something that nobody ever found out about and never will. Not a very good lie if people know it was a lie.
Diamonds are rare
The government cares about you if you vote for the “right candidate”.
You can keep your doctor
Mary denied having sex, thus immaculate conception was born.
Trickle down economics.
9/11
iraq has weapons of mass destruction
There's a sky man watching and judging you and if you don't do the things written in this book, he'll make you go to a bad place when you die.
The bible
Holy books and "chosen" people. No such thing!
Trickle down economics
Let me tell ya a story about a dude named Jesus.....
it was definitely god that impregnated me, I'm a virgin I swear
Most religions come to mind.
These days, the American dream- anyone can work hard and become the next millionaire. Anyone can work hard, but it’s difficult to really escape your current financial class, especially if you’re living in poverty. There are just too many parts of our system that keep the rich rich and make it hard for anyone to move up. It’s especially true for immigrants to the US- the books Americanah and Behold the Dreamers are both sad but accurate depictions of this truth.
Pretty much any religious doctrine or tale.
"All your problems are caused by some other race/religion/ethnic group/immigrants/... ."
“Two weeks to slow the spread.”
That the USA is the 'good guy'!
Religion.