Subject: Lies, truth, intentions, & autism.
As an autistic person, I have a lot of trouble with lies.
Both lying and being lied to. I just can't get my head around it 🤷♀️
A thread 🧵
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#Deception#Lying#Lies#Autism#Neurodivergent#Autistic#Psychology#Intentions
I had a conversation with my sister about it.
I started by asking her, “What is lying?”
She replied, “It's when you say something that isn't true.”
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That was my favourite definition, too, of the term.
Which was why I was now puzzled.
Me: “So that means indeed it is a lie if I say, for example, ‘I'll call you later’ and then I never do?”
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Her: “Oh I see! No, not really… I think there has to be the intention behind it. So it would be a lie if you said that, while knowing that you have no intention of doing so.”
Me: “But what about the elephant in the brain?”
Her: “Huh?”
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Me: “Well, do people not know that we very often deceive ourselves, to some degree or other… about our own intentions? And… well… everyone thinking it's not a lie if you believe it yourself… does this not mean there’s vested interest in us deceiving ourselves… like, a lot of the time?”
Her: “Well, yes, there is that!”
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Me: “So… would it not make more sense for me to look at the precedent… the data I've got?”
Her: “Not sure what you mean by that..."
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Vihāra is an experimental Buddhist monastery: a federated hub representing the activities of a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan Vajrayāna/Mahāyāna lineages.
