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Realtime running count of lies told
Similar to the other reply, it's a good idea and seemingly pragmatic, but we could spend a decade arguing over the pedantry of what qualifies as a lie and still not be done.
Truth is tricky
I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it.
How about any statement told with the intent of the recipient believing something about the world that the speaker knows to not be true
That's a very good angle, honing in on exactly the problem of lying.
"Intent" could get just as tricky. With all the various forms of psychosis, delusion, etc. it'd be tough to say whether someone "meant" to do something. (It's trickier than we'd usually like to admit even for a typical person.)
The same kind of problems exist around whether the speaker "knows" something to be false.
Then there's the problem of fiction. Bedtime stories, campfire stories...
And not exactly a technical problem, but what about a doctor who knowingly oversimplifies or otherwise intentionally twists his words in an attempt to get the patient to manage their condition optimally? Parents who lie about how something works to help their kids understand something or behave safely? Teachers who oversimplify physics lessons to present it in a way their students can grasp for now. Not exactly a technical problem maybe, but would we want "noble lies" to affect the counter? This is a little off track, just occurred to me and felt like writing it out 🤷♂️
This one doesn't pose a direct problem really but maybe helps me get to my point: what if people who rode a train moving at relativistic speeds when lightning struck both ends talk with someone who was watching from outside about when the lightning struck? Truth is tricky...
But making it, "how often did they attempt to intentionally deceive" as you suggested is a great approach imho. Maybe almost realistic. There's probably some biological indicators of that right? ... for non-psychopaths
Let's start with the times you've said something you know to be untrue.
I told my nephews that Santa was real
So sarcasm is lying?
Does reading the Big Friendly Giant to a nephew count as one big un-truth or many small ones?
It's a great thought and all, but wouldn't authors, actors, and other purveyors of fiction have really large numbers? Every politician would suddenly find a new found joy of reading fiction to children in hospitals.
Nah, fiction isn't lies, not when there's no deceit.
Lie is when you deceive someone, not when creating fictional world. At least this is my option.
Realtime. Immediate feedback they just lied to you.
Oh, please, mine wouldve stopped counting by middle school.
RampantParanoia2366