“Do you, on that basis, habitually assume that a random stranger engaging in casual conversation with you is a liar?”
Yes. Absolutely. Almost /everyone/ lies to complete strangers sometimes. Who among us has never given an enhanced and glamourfied story about who they are to a stranger they struck up a conversation with on a train?
Yes. Absolutely. Almost /everyone/ lies to complete strangers sometimes. Who among us has never given an enhanced and glamourfied story about who they are to a stranger they struck up a conversation with on a train?
Never? Really? Not even /once/?
If everyone regularly talked to strangers on trains, and exactly once lied to such a stranger, it would still be pretty safe to assume that any given train-stranger is being honest with you.
In conversations I’ve had about this with friends—good grief, there’s a giant flashing anecdata alert if ever I did see one, but it’s the best we’ve got to go off here—I would suspect that people do it often enough that it’s a reasonable thing to consider in a situation like the one being discussed here, though.
Not that I think it’s a bad thing that the person in question didn’t, mind you. It would be a very easy option not to consider.
“Do you, on that basis, habitually assume that a random stranger engaging in casual conversation with you is a liar?”
Yes. Absolutely. Almost /everyone/ lies to complete strangers sometimes. Who among us has never given an enhanced and glamourfied story about who they are to a stranger they struck up a conversation with on a train?
Never? Really? Not even /once/?
If everyone regularly talked to strangers on trains, and exactly once lied to such a stranger, it would still be pretty safe to assume that any given train-stranger is being honest with you.
Actually, yes, you’re entirely right.
In conversations I’ve had about this with friends—good grief, there’s a giant flashing anecdata alert if ever I did see one, but it’s the best we’ve got to go off here—I would suspect that people do it often enough that it’s a reasonable thing to consider in a situation like the one being discussed here, though.
Not that I think it’s a bad thing that the person in question didn’t, mind you. It would be a very easy option not to consider.