Originally Posted By: ireckon
Teaching someone to recognize a lie includes the process of recognizing the truth. Recognizing a lie involves extra layers of complexity in my opinion. It's not easy.


I disagreee. More often than not, it is far simpler to prove that a false claim is false than proving a right claim to be true.

In a rigorous scientific framework, nothing can ever be claimed to be "proven true", although there are some theories that come pretty close.

Originally Posted By: ireckon
For example, there are thousands of salesmen who are pushing "get rich quick" books. How do you know who's lying?


Ah, I love this example - it is where you prepare the children for the real world by teaching them a healthy dose of cynicism: Some people will lie/sell junk/make false claims to get your money.

First: So... start with the general assumption that all (or almost all, if you're feeling slightly less cynical) of the "Get rich books" are written and sold by liars. To humor yourself you can examine a book or two to see if those are among the exceptions. If it is, then hey - you get rich, no complaints. If not, then this was exactly as expected. You've invested time and money to improve your your bull-o-meter.


Second: Follow the money. Where does those authors and salesmen earn their living? Likely there is less money to be made by reading that book than by writing or selling it....


Third - What are the actual success factors for those that have made their fortune? (See some biographs and inteviews). Most likely, you will see it is a combination of good ideas, a lot of hard work and a lot of luck (timing). I'll bet you $20 that you won't find a rich person that says he became rich because he read one of those "how to get rich" books.


Edited by MostlyHarmless (10/20/10 03:38 PM)