(no subject)

[pengke.livejournal.com]

I’m sure everyone has read someone’s post on this community or read a comment that made you stop and think, “I don’t believe you.” If you haven’t, either you don’t read the threads very closely or you work very hard not to think critically about anything you read here, because there have been some very outrageous claims made here over the years. (But that’s an entirely different discussion.) I want to know what people think when they come across one of these statements that they just can’t believe.

Do you:

A) Think the person is lying.
B) Think the person is knowingly role playing
C) Think the person believes that they are multiple but is probably unintentionally role playing or some other form of imagination
D) Think the system is lying about the experiences
E) Think the system is knowingly or unintentionally role playing the experiences
F) Think the system is adhering to the community’s cultural norms/trying to fit in
G) Think the system probably honestly believes their claims even though another explanation seems more logical to you
H) Think the system probably started out making things up but has since convinced themselves that their claims are true
I) Worry that you might be making things up too or that someone else might think you are
J) Think something else entirely – please share

Also, do your thoughts change depending on why you can’t believe the statement? For example, is there a difference between someone claiming to do/be something that you think is impossible and someone contradicting themselves or claiming that something happened in real life that could not have happened?

Comments

[shatterstorm.livejournal.com]

Most of the time we're either not interested in whatever they're talking about, or we're just curious about what's going on in their head(s.) If it isn't relevant to why we interact with this group, why should we get stirred up about it?

Deciding whether JoeBob is an attentiondramawhore, simply delusional, or telling a truth isn't necessary for us. N/A. Unimportant.

If someone is convinced they're a reincarnation of Elvis, we're usually more interested in why they chose to talk about it to us.

We could choose to believe that all kinds of things outside our experience must be bullsh*t. And that it was our sworn duty as Reality Police to inform them of that. Sure would limit our interactions with a lot of interesting people though.

[shatterstorm.livejournal.com]

dang, now i needs me a "Reality Police" icon!

[appadil.livejournal.com]

...I would utterly make such an icon for you if I had the Photoshop skills to do it to my satisfaction.