Anyone interested in taking part in my experiment?

[s0nystyle]

I just thought it up for fun, then realized how great it would be to actually put it into effect.

What separates lies from truth? What if there was no line between the two, or if the line between them was blurred that you could not tell if one or the other was real?
What if you were to create a mask for every new person you meet? a mask of lies to hide your true self from said person. You would continue to lie to this person (about your name, age, origin, intelligence,etc) for one month, then after that one month confront them saying "if i was to tell you that everything that you've known about me has been a lie, would you believe me?" to see their reaction.

I know it sounds quite sadistic, but so far it has been an exhilarating experience for me. I plan on doing it for only 1 month, but it's so much fun that i thought that others might be interested in trying it, so is anyone else willing to help me?

 

[shoeless]

that's rather... immoral. and basically, i don't see the point of it. what kind of reactions are you looking for? what kind of question do you want answered?

 

[lone_dreamer]

That sounds like quite a thrill, but if they turned out to be an awesome person, it would kind of suck. I like the idea of an alias though; it'd be a new perspective.

 

[EyeSeeCold]

We are all living a lie to some extent.

 

[s0nystyle]

i'm just looking for any kind of reaction and recording how each subject responds to the stimulus. Not quite sure if anyone has attempted an experiment like this before, but I just thought it would be fun to do. Spice up life a little

 

[Glordag]

Fun idea, but I lack the ability to be "outside myself", if you will. This would be incredibly stressful for me. I'm interested to hear the results from anyone that actually attempts it, though.

 

[shoeless]

i just don't understand the point. i mean, okay, you're gauging their reaction to a stimulus, but how is this stimulus relevant in any way? the only time that would ever happen is just if somebody's fucking with people, and it doesn't seem worth the potential hurt you could cause somebody by doing that. people don't tend to like being manipulated, especially if there's absolutely no purpose for it besides saying "just to see how you'd react".

 

[Deleted member 1424]

http://intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=2031

 

[Glordag]

i just don't understand the point. i mean, okay, you're gauging their reaction to a stimulus, but how is this stimulus relevant in any way? the only time that would ever happen is just if somebody's fucking with people, and it doesn't seem worth the potential hurt you could cause somebody by doing that. people don't tend to like being manipulated, especially if there's absolutely no purpose for it besides saying "just to see how you'd react".

It's something you don't get to see, otherwise. You can gauge how a particular type of person reacts to a particular set of conditions, and then gather how that type of person reacts to having their ideas about you more or less shattered.

You could even do this to a milder degree to determine beneficial ways to behave around different people. If you slowly and gradually altered how you act around different types of people, then you could potentially learn a myriad of ways to interact that provide benefits. Taking it the step further and revealing your "true self" to the person is sort of a way to test how dependent the other person was on your "lies", and to see how they react if you're "found out".

Have you seen Dexter? He provides a pretty decent example.

 

[Firehazard159]

Hum. I do this to an extent already. It's not so much lying about myself, it's just recreating myself in the moment, presenting another version of self because the last self was less successful in social conditions. Very few people actually meet 'me' on a personal level.

I know it's not the same, but it's a similar sort of idea, built out of a lack of trust in other people.

 

[LPolaright]

I just thought it up for fun, then realized how great it would be to actually put it into effect.

What separates lies from truth? What if there was no line between the two, or if the line between them was blurred that you could not tell if one or the other was real?
What if you were to create a mask for every new person you meet? a mask of lies to hide your true self from said person. You would continue to lie to this person (about your name, age, origin, intelligence,etc) for one month, then after that one month confront them saying "if i was to tell you that everything that you've known about me has been a lie, would you believe me?" to see their reaction.

I know it sounds quite sadistic, but so far it has been an exhilarating experience for me. I plan on doing it for only 1 month, but it's so much fun that i thought that others might be interested in trying it, so is anyone else willing to help me?

Done it, it's really quite boring - especially over the MSN... You can't actually see their responses but it's quite amusing when they block you.

Also it is quite releasing when you enter some true elements like situations - and it is really nice to give hypothetical situations as "real".

The reveal is not as quite important as the actual process - I do it all the time, I know.

Whether it's immoral or not? People should not talk to strangers, nor should they trust them. Whether they form trust or not with people like you eventually will benefit them when you surprise them with the actual "truth".

Once I had a person that was really mad at me for doing that - but one day he added me back on the list saying "Thank you for doing that sadistic bastard, you actually saved me from a con man", obviously he blocked me right after that but it's quite interesting where you get with all the lies you tell.

 

[BigApplePi]

I just thought it up for fun, then realized how great it would be to actually put it into effect.

What separates lies from truth? What if there was no line between the two, or if the line between them was blurred that you could not tell if one or the other was real?
What if you were to create a mask for every new person you meet? a mask of lies to hide your true self from said person. You would continue to lie to this person (about your name, age, origin, intelligence,etc) for one month, then after that one month confront them saying "if i was to tell you that everything that you've known about me has been a lie, would you believe me?" to see their reaction.

I know it sounds quite sadistic, but so far it has been an exhilarating experience for me. I plan on doing it for only 1 month, but it's so much fun that i thought that others might be interested in trying it, so is anyone else willing to help me?

This is quite common if you happen to be a novelist or playwright. These people make up characters, run with them and make them good enough to be real for the audience.

I experience this regularly on the Raging Bull bulletin board. There many posters lack a certain civility not found here. They regularly violate the rules and so are banned by management. They reappear with different names and different personas. If they are "outed" they are banned again.

There are more stories on this I could tell you.

 

[s0nystyle]

i dont think you guys get it but you do this, with people you meet in real life, not on the internet. That would be way too easy if you could just do it on the internet :/

 

[preilemus]

What is the focus of this? confusion of truth & lie for others, or yourself?

 

[BigApplePi]

i dont think you guys get it but you do this, with people you meet in real life, not on the internet. That would be way too easy if you could just do it on the internet :/

On the internet you get up to two dimensions; in real life you get up to three. It's a little harder in real life.

I forgot about the mask. That reduces the dimensions. When that is detected one suspects a mask.

 

[nexion]

An interesting experiment. Quite intriguing, actually. But I would have no way to interpret the data post-facto.

 

[Stoic Beverage]

I do this at times, but without the "Gotcha!"-esque revelation. I simply act as would be best received by the people around me. But to go to the extent of lying about personal details...
Sounds like great fun. I'm in!

 

[Meer]

I lied to facebook about my birthday last year, and a bunch of people wished me happy birthday on a random day.

I forgot to change it and a year later some new friends also wished me happy birthday on a random day.

It was awkward and made me look like a dick.

 

[AlisaD]

I'm generally into all kinds of crazy shit, but this just seems like unnecessary cruelty. Like kids torturing insects for no apparent reason.

I could understand the experiment Adaire provided the link to, but this simply seems - ugly.

 

[The Gopher]

I'm generally into all kinds of crazy shit, but this just seems like unnecessary cruelty. Like kids torturing insects for no apparent reason.

I could understand the experiment Adaire provided the link to, but this simply seems - ugly.

b-but but you torture me for no reason

However this does seem sadistic

 

[AlisaD]

b-but but you torture me for no reason

I do it only because you like it so much.

You're welcome.

 

[kantor1003]

A month just to see their reaction when you tell them your "secret"? hmm. Could be fun in some ways. I would rather be experimenting for something like a day at a time, I think, with one group of random people I don't know to test out different modes of being and how they respond to different personas.. then perhaps, if any reaction/s is one/ of interest, I might apply it, to some extent, to my real self. So instead of doing something just to see someones reaction, all though their reaction to a particular persona is used to gauge the personas effect, I would be doing it more for myself than anything else.. and I wouldn't tell them the fact that I am experimenting with personalities... unless it's that sort of personality that says those kinds of things.
The experiments don't have to be...so dramatic

 

[socialexpat]

You'd better be careful with such live experiments.
It seems i'm the victim of one that left more damage than something else .. Fact is that i do suspect a few people and mainly some young guy who is behind it (puzzle pieces have brought me far till now).. Too bad that kid is involved in the wrong world making him vulnerable .. If i would ... Maybe i should if justice wont be served.

 

[Agapooka]

You know, you can observe their reaction to the idea that you lied to them for a month without lying to them for a month. You only have to lie to them for that moment and you can still record their reaction.

Actually, it might be interesting to see if there's a difference between their reactions when you do the above and when you do what you proposed...

I think that your relationship with that person in the future would depend on how well you are able to explain your scientific enquiry and that it was not personal. Of course, then they would have no reason to actually believe you...

 

[Lobstrich]

I don't get how people think truth is a relative term. You can't go "Well there were 3 guys at the scene, there are 3 truths, because they each have one"
Only one of them is telling the truth. It's a very simple line between truth and lies. Truth is truth. A lie is not the truth.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

It is not even an issue of who would lie. There is one truth, and the people just describe that more or less accurately. (or lie)

 

[BigApplePi]

It is not even an issue of who would lie. There is one truth, and the people just describe that more or less accurately. (or lie)

So if they are all close to each other, all are close to the truth unless all are being mislead.

 

[Yet]

if they desribe different aspects they are not close to each other but can be equally close to 'truth'

 

[BigApplePi]

if they desribe different aspects they are not close to each other but can be equally close to 'truth'

That is true, but here's the puzzle:

How does one tell?

 

[Moocow]

You don't even have a problem you're trying to solve or a hypothesis. It's not an experiment, you're just being a dick.

 

[Yet]

That is true, but here's the puzzle:

How does one tell?

hahahaha clever cloggs

one tries to find intersubjectivity with others like you described above:
(quoting you)
So if they are all close to each other, all are close to the truth unless all are being mislead.

truth is quite slippery, captured in paradigma's it tends to shift

 

[BigApplePi]

You don't even have a problem you're trying to solve or a hypothesis. It's not an experiment, you're just being a dick.

Moocow are you talking about the OP? Isn't s0nystyle essentially posing how long can we hold an act? Take note that some people may not know themselves or may be in the process of forming an identity so I think the OP is a valid issue.

 

[Zionoxis]

I really like the idea. My only issue is that part of my true self would most likely bleed through. Do I have to create a COMPLETELY different alias or one that is just different? If I didn't have to do a full 180 change, I could pull it off. I already do that to an extent with some anyway.

 

[Zmaster]

The best way to lie is to tell the truth in such great detail that either everyone gets bored or they start saying "nothing could be that involved" to the point where no one believes you anymore. Movies are great for doing this. The common man believes movies are just works of fiction but what they don't realize is every movie is the art of conceptualization in regards to the life we experience everyday.