# Lying? or just wrong? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 18, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189 "2026-05-18T19:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/21 "2026-05-21T14:53:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “Misinformation” spreaders who ignore factual refutations of their memes are also liars A bit of a sidetrack but I’m not so sure. The people who originate those memes are absolutely liars (and that’s the least of their moral failings) but your average meme spreader does not I think realize what they are posting is untrue. Even if there are countless refutations of the obvious falsehood in their eyes those are the misinformation. You could accuse them of being willfully uninformed but not of lying IMO ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/22 "2026-05-21T15:22:41Z")
That earns the “distinction without a difference” award. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/23 "2026-05-21T18:55:17Z")
Do you have any particular "they"s in mind? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/24 "2026-05-22T18:41:22Z")
There is also the gray area of “Denial” or lying to oneself. The person who has had 3 DWI’s and can’t get through the day without a few drinks, but says they don’t have a drinking problem. They have been presented clear evidence, and may at some deep level realize the truth, but their psychological defense mechanisms prevent them from accepting it. I wouldn’t exactly say that they are lying. I think a lot of Trumpists may fall into this category. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/25 "2026-05-22T19:06:30Z")
I suppose I’d go back to ask why the “iIs [whatever] a lie” distinction is important? To me your exemplar drunk or trumpist is exactly as morally culpable as someone who totally admits to themselves that they’re an alcoholic or who is certain that the propaganda they are confidently spewing is 100% false. But they say what they do for lulz, or defense or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/26 "2026-05-22T19:11:08Z")
If someone lies for quite a while, then finally tries to excuse the lie by saying “well, I was mislead, so that is water under the bridge”, I would like to see further details. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/27 "2026-05-22T20:34:28Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Those who attack science with falsehoods, knowing that they’re false, are not “skeptics” as mainstream news would have it. They’re anti-whatever it is, and liars. So what would you call flat-earthers? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/28 "2026-05-22T21:07:24Z")
From day one they should have been dealt with thusly: “There is no difference of opinion here, since all the evidence points to the fact that the earth is not flat. You are either an idiot or a liar, but in either case I’m not wasting anymore time here. Goodbye.” ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/29 "2026-05-22T22:38:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > trumpist is exactly as morally culpable as someone who totally admits that the propaganda they are confidently spewing is 100% false So the alcoholic case is a lot more complicated and uncertain. But this i disagree with. The person who deliberately spreads misinformation to help destroy our democracy is definitely more morally culpable than the Maga idiot who believes the bs and shares it on Facebook. Neither are completely blameless but the former is far more at fault. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/30 "2026-05-22T22:47:33Z")
Anyone repeating the same nonsense over and over knowing it’s false, including flat earthers, is lying. Consequences of being a tiny minority arguing for a flat earth are, of course, nil, unless people are being injured and killed due to their beliefs, which would be news to me. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/31 "2026-06-14T18:52:29Z")
I’ve become confused about lying lately. Truth is often trimmed and adjusted, which looks like lying to me. Subjective experience is so biased that truth appears completly tainted. Memories are constantly reconstructed to fit general or temporary attitudes depending on the situation. This is uncomfortable, to say the least. I remember a kid who pushed a tower I was building in kindergarten because I had kind of monopolized all the blocks. So, I pushed him back. The teacher pulled us both apart and asked me to say I was sorry. I was not sorry but I had to say I was. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189/32 "2026-06-14T18:58:08Z")
There is a clear difference between misinformation and disinformation. Disinformation is not just lying–it is a form of non-armed assault or warfare and it is recognized as such by various authorities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lying-or-just-wrong/1030189.md?page=1)