Once you are beyond the most elementary of statements I really don’t think so, rather the opposite, at least for unique rather than for repeated statements. Most untrue statements are probably either ad hoc lies (“You look great.” “That’s a great gift.” “I don’t have any money with me.”) or misremembered information.
In the case of of ad hoc lies there is not enough time to invent plausible details and inventing details without time to think it through increases the risk of being caught, in the case of misremembered information you are less likely to know or remember additional information you could include in the statement than someone who really knows the subject and wouldn’t make that error. Of course more information simply means including more things even the best experts on the subject are simply wrong about as well as more room for misrememberings, but I think the first effect dominates because there are many subjects the second effect doesn’t really apply to, e. g. the content of a work of fiction or the constitution of a state (to an extent even legal matters in general).
Complex untrue statements would be things like rehearsed lies and anecdotes/myths/urban legends.
Consider the so called conjunction fallacy, if it was maladaptive for evaluating the truth of statements encountered normally it probably wouldn’t exist. So in every day conversation (or at least the sort of situations that are relevant for the propagation of the memes and or genes involved) complex statements, at least of those kinds that can be observed to be evaluated “fallaciously”, are probably more likely to be true.
Once you are beyond the most elementary of statements I really don’t think so, rather the opposite, at least for unique rather than for repeated statements. Most untrue statements are probably either ad hoc lies (“You look great.” “That’s a great gift.” “I don’t have any money with me.”) or misremembered information.
In the case of of ad hoc lies there is not enough time to invent plausible details and inventing details without time to think it through increases the risk of being caught, in the case of misremembered information you are less likely to know or remember additional information you could include in the statement than someone who really knows the subject and wouldn’t make that error. Of course more information simply means including more things even the best experts on the subject are simply wrong about as well as more room for misrememberings, but I think the first effect dominates because there are many subjects the second effect doesn’t really apply to, e. g. the content of a work of fiction or the constitution of a state (to an extent even legal matters in general).
Complex untrue statements would be things like rehearsed lies and anecdotes/myths/urban legends.
Consider the so called conjunction fallacy, if it was maladaptive for evaluating the truth of statements encountered normally it probably wouldn’t exist. So in every day conversation (or at least the sort of situations that are relevant for the propagation of the memes and or genes involved) complex statements, at least of those kinds that can be observed to be evaluated “fallaciously”, are probably more likely to be true.