You Need To Love The Truth

[Mike]

James Lindsay is an academic with a background in mathematics and physics, and thru a few twists and turns has become something of a cultural/sociopolitical guru. There are quite a few great sources of information out there, but if you want to know what's really going on in the world, I highly recommend Lindsay. He's able to articulate the big picture better than just about anybody, imho.

In this short video, (little more than 9 mins) he asserts that it's not good enough to simply tell the truth; you have to love the truth.

Loving the truth will be the only thing that prevents you from crumbling when the pressure arrives to lie or distort it (and it will!)

Lindsay is a self described atheist, but he gets a little biblical here. He substitutes the word "truth" for "God" in some paraphrasing of a couple of the 10 commandments. It could be read as metaphor, but I actually think it's a pretty sophisticated way of viewing God proper.

It goes something like this: You must love the truth with all your heart and soul, and tell your neighbor the truth as you would have him tell the truth to you...

And, crucially: You must fear the truth.

Every good Christian knows you must fear God, and the truth is in a very real way synonymous with God.

You must fear the truth because no matter how hard you try to delude yourself about something, the truth will ultimately catch up with you and assert itself. And, depending upon how long you've been lying to yourself, it can be quite brutal and devastating.

8GXEHXM9uuc

[Bill Ryan]

Many thanks, Mike, and that's so inspiring. :highfive:

To fully complement that, here's Richard Dolan talking about his relationship with Truth, back in June 2017. In my opinion it's way the most powerful podcast he's ever made, on audio or video, about any topic.

It has quite an impact. I confess that this 20 minute final segment, linked below, left me very deeply moved. (For anyone who wants to hear the entire thing, it's here (https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017.mp3).)

https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

(https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3)https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

[Mike]

Many thanks, Mike, and that's so inspiring. :highfive:

To fully complement that, here's Richard Dolan talking about his relationship with Truth, back in June 2017. In my opinion it's way the most powerful podcast he's ever made, on audio or video, about any topic.

It has quite an impact. I confess that this 20 minute final segment, linked below, left me very deeply moved. (For anyone who wants to hear the entire thing, it's here (https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017.mp3).)

https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

(https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3)https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3


Fantastic!:thumbsup:

That's sort of like the Rocky speech for truth right there:)

The beauty of a James or Richard video or all the great ones you've made, is that you walk away feeling emboldened and calm - even if the topics are triggering - instead of blazing mad and frazzled.

I particularly like what Richard said about nihilism, and the distinction he made between acting like nothing matters vs acting like everything matters. Perhaps on some level nothing does matter, but often it's a philosophy the personal responsibility averse adopt as a means to remain lazy and uninvolved. Far more noble to act like it all matters and find meaning in personal responsibility. That's what I got outta all that anyway. Thanks, enjoyed the audio!

[Ewan]

This is a quick trigger response to reading both of your words. The phrase that came to my mind on reading your offerings was... (drumroll)

The truth shall set you free.

I am actually excited to listen to both offerings, mayhaps the truth is calling to me.

[Ewan]

This is a quick trigger response to reading both of your words. The phrase that came to my mind on reading your offerings was... (drumroll)

The truth shall set you free.

I am actually excited to listen to both offerings, mayhaps the truth is calling to me.

Ok, both brilliant offerings.

Mike, I could not fault a word James Lindsay said.

Bill, I also agreed with everything Richard said but I did wonder about his reticence to talk about certain topics. I considered, that like David Paulides, he won't commit to something he is not 100% certain to speak that truth.

Thank you both, wonderful offerings to the community. :) :)

[rgray222]

Thanks, Mike, I enjoyed this short video. It hit close to home, Many years ago I made a pact with myself that I would always tell the truth. No matter what the circumstance the truth would always prevail. In my world, there is no such thing as a white lie that is forgiven or even avoiding the truth for altruistic reasons. Sidestepping the truth to avoid hurting someone's feelings just is not going to happen in my life. On occasion, my world can be a bit bleak (lol), think Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus. Lying by omission may be the the most difficult aspect of always telling the truth, often you just don't want the confrontation. This is a work in progress and I suspect a lifelong struggle. I also suspect that we all have confronted this issue even here on Avalon.

Believe it or not, it is much harder to tell the truth day in and day out than most people realize. I'm talking about telling people that you are not coming over this weekend because you have other plans when in fact you just want to stay home and zone out. If you “attempt” it for a week or even a few days you will understand. Quite frankly I was astonished at how many untruths I told throughout the day.

The point being, that you can't stand and tell the larger truth, think Boeing or government whistle-blower unless you have developed a habit of always being honest. I have been at this a long time and while I don't feel a love for the truth I feel an absolute need for the truth. Occasionally you are the only candle in a dark room and that gets lonely and scary very quickly and it is never easy. A wonderful by-product of always telling the truth is you choose your words much more carefully, you think about what you are saying instead of just blurting out some emotional response.

The truth is essential to every life you touch and to your own well-being. Truth is the basis for trust and trust is the basis for love.

[onawah]

I don't pay attention to Dolan nowadays due to his joining the recent phony Disclosure movement (fabricated by Lew Elizondo and that crowd), which veteran truth tellers/researchers par excellence Dr. Joseph Farrell and Dark Journalist Daniel Lizst have so thoroughly and completely discredited.

[Mike]

I don't pay attention to Dolan nowadays due to his joining the recent phony Disclosure movement (fabricated by Lew Elizondo and that crowd), which veteran truth tellers/researchers par excellence Dr. Joseph Farrell and Dark Journalist Daniel Lizst have so thoroughly and completely discredited.


Hey Nat, what do ya mean by "joining the movement"? What's the nature of Richard's involvement?

Are you talking about the "To The Stars" thing with pop star Tom DeLonge?

[Mike]

Thanks, Mike, I enjoyed this short video. It hit close to home, Many years ago I made a pact with myself that I would always tell the truth. No matter what the circumstance the truth would always prevail. In my world, there is no such thing as a white lie that is forgiven or even avoiding the truth for altruistic reasons. Sidestepping the truth to avoid hurting someone's feelings just is not going to happen in my life. On occasion, my world can be a bit bleak (lol), think Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus. Lying by omission may be the the most difficult aspect of always telling the truth, often you just don't want the confrontation. This is a work in progress and I suspect a lifelong struggle. I also suspect that we all have confronted this issue even here on Avalon.

Believe it or not, it is much harder to tell the truth day in and day out than most people realize. I'm talking about telling people that you are not coming over this weekend because you have other plans when in fact you just want to stay home and zone out. If you “attempt” it for a week or even a few days you will understand. Quite frankly I was astonished at how many untruths I told throughout the day.

The point being, that you can't stand and tell the larger truth, think Boeing or government whistle-blower unless you have developed a habit of always being honest. I have been at this a long time and while I don't feel a love for the truth I feel an absolute need for the truth. Occasionally you are the only candle in a dark room and that gets lonely and scary very quickly and it is never easy. A wonderful by-product of always telling the truth is you choose your words much more carefully, you think about what you are saying instead of just blurting out some emotional response.

The truth is essential to every life you touch and to your own well-being. Truth is the basis for trust and trust is the basis for love.


Trying to tell the truth all the time is indeed exhausting!:) It's an interesting experiment for anyone to run. As you say, most of us will be shocked by how many small lies we tell in a day.

The small ones are significant, though we are loath to admit it. They slowly corrupt the mechanism we use to interface with the world, the same way that a computer slowly gets compromised due to virus'. The small ones are a gateway drug to the big ones, basically. They're so damn easy to tell in the moment, and we're so good at justifying our reasons for telling them...

Jordan Peterson on white lies. Pretty inspirational. 38 seconds long:
k0GjDZb-9lg

Perhaps the one exception are "black truths", which are truths that are told not with an intention to help but to hurt or hinder in some way. These are told as putdowns, or for ego victories. It's like the friend that goes out of his way to tell you you're out of shape, or bad at golf or something. The people that tell these black truths pride themselves on their "honesty", and never miss an opportunity to pat themselves on the back for it..but it's really just assholery masquerading as honesty.

[Johnnycomelately]

Thanks, Mike, I enjoyed this short video. It hit close to home, Many years ago I made a pact with myself that I would always tell the truth. No matter what the circumstance the truth would always prevail. In my world, there is no such thing as a white lie that is forgiven or even avoiding the truth for altruistic reasons. Sidestepping the truth to avoid hurting someone's feelings just is not going to happen in my life. On occasion, my world can be a bit bleak (lol), think Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus. Lying by omission may be the the most difficult aspect of always telling the truth, often you just don't want the confrontation. This is a work in progress and I suspect a lifelong struggle. I also suspect that we all have confronted this issue even here on Avalon.

Believe it or not, it is much harder to tell the truth day in and day out than most people realize. I'm talking about telling people that you are not coming over this weekend because you have other plans when in fact you just want to stay home and zone out. If you “attempt” it for a week or even a few days you will understand. Quite frankly I was astonished at how many untruths I told throughout the day.

The point being, that you can't stand and tell the larger truth, think Boeing or government whistle-blower unless you have developed a habit of always being honest. I have been at this a long time and while I don't feel a love for the truth I feel an absolute need for the truth. Occasionally you are the only candle in a dark room and that gets lonely and scary very quickly and it is never easy. A wonderful by-product of always telling the truth is you choose your words much more carefully, you think about what you are saying instead of just blurting out some emotional response.

The truth is essential to every life you touch and to your own well-being. Truth is the basis for trust and trust is the basis for love.

Several good ideas here, rgray222.

Practice, intended self conditioning, is said to make “perfect”.

I think that careful consideration of “truth” is an important way of tuning oneself to God.

But just as important is to know who you’re talking to. Different situations might need different takes on what to say. I know this because I’ve been physically attacked for stating obvious truths, or at least truth-adjacent objections.

I don’t recall ever having a problem with the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny, but when I started studying Christ (age late 20’s) I got a bit angry about Christmas rituals. But my mom and dad always put on great Christmases for us kids, they even gave us money to buy presents for all other fam members.

Your last sentence, “Truth is the basis for trust and trust is the basis for love.”, I find problematic. To me, love is something one does, as in “love your enemies”. Not like the trope “in love”, not requiring any affirmation from the other. I love a bunch of people that I don’t trust, and I do heartily refrain from giving them too much truth.

Truth is one weird thing, because it’s usually conflated with belief. At that point, better step back and get ready to either run or fight or try to calm things down.

BB-62,
now in drydock, Philly yard.
Welding and paint now.

See? Seems obvious.
Yet some people will object,
to haiku logic.

[Bill Ryan]

I don't pay attention to Dolan nowadays due to his joining the recent phony Disclosure movement (fabricated by Lew Elizondo and that crowd), which veteran truth tellers/researchers par excellence Dr. Joseph Farrell and Dark Journalist Daniel Lizst have so thoroughly and completely discredited.Dear Natalie, do listen to the audio. It's an inspiration, I absolutely promise. It builds and builds over 20 minutes. And it's not about ufology at all.


Here's Richard Dolan talking about his relationship with Truth, back in June 2017. In my opinion it's way the most powerful podcast he's ever made, on audio or video, about any topic.

It has quite an impact. I confess that this 20 minute final segment, linked below, left me very deeply moved. (For anyone who wants to hear the entire thing, it's here (https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017.mp3).)

https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

(https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3)https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Sidestepping the truth to avoid hurting someone's feelings just is not going to happen in my life.

I have a different take. I'll butter the truth (let's call it) or tell a white lie to spare someone's feelings. Like with my brother a couple of years ago who, due to lengthy illness, eventually passed away. But when I took him out for a pint in the evenings my mother would later ask for a detailed report on his condition. I always made out he was doing better than he was to prevent the inevitable pearl-clutching. She was and is a frantic worrier, and the truth in this instance would have done more harm than good. My intention was well-meaning, so in this instance I don't fear the judgement of my maker.

Personally, if telling the truth in all its dismal details was for no other purpose than to make myself feel better (by virtue signalling to myself), then you can count me out.

My point is, that the truth is more nuanced than a rule-book entry – than a commandment chiselled in a tablet. Yes, truth is the best policy, and one should always aspire to tell it, but there are exceptions. Every case is situational. During WWII for example, the Home Office put out this slogan: "Loose lips sink ships" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loose_lips_sink_ships) It meant guard the truth carefully (lie by omission), because lives were at stake.

In my opinion, there's a lot more to telling the truth than simply telling it for its own sake. How we treat a given situation, and how we exercise our intent, is what really counts at the end of the day.

[ulli]

My take on this comes from the Baha’i teachings. Integrating one’s love of truth with respect for the opinion of others. Not easy, by any means.


We must take counsel together in such wise that no occasion for ill-feeling or discord may arise. This can be attained when every member expresses with absolute freedom his own opinion and sets forth his argument.
Should anyone oppose, he must on no account feel hurt, for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed.

The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions.

– Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 87.

[Mike]

Sidestepping the truth to avoid hurting someone's feelings just is not going to happen in my life.

I have a different take. I'll butter the truth (let's call it) or tell a white lie to spare someone's feelings. Like with my brother a couple of years ago who, due to lengthy illness, eventually passed away. But when I took him out for a pint in the evenings my mother would later ask for a detailed report on his condition. I always made out he was doing better than he was to prevent the inevitable pearl-clutching. She was and is a frantic worrier, and the truth in this instance would have done more harm than good. My intention was well-meaning, so in this instance I don't fear the judgement of my maker.

Personally, if telling the truth in all its dismal details was for no other purpose than to make myself feel better (by virtue signalling to myself), then you can count me out.

My point is, that the truth is more nuanced than a rule-book entry – than a commandment chiselled in a tablet. Yes, truth is the best policy, and one should always aspire to tell it, but there are exceptions. Every case is situational. During WWII for example, the Home Office put out this slogan: "Loose lips sink ships" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loose_lips_sink_ships) It meant guard the truth carefully (lie by omission), because lives were at stake.

In my opinion, there's a lot more to telling the truth than simply telling it for its own sake. How we treat a given situation, and how we exercise our intent, is what really counts at the end of the day.


Maybe the missing variable is frequency. Perhaps a lie, even a noble lie, or a white lie, is like lightly banging your head against the wall. Not too damaging initially, but over time it is.

I think something gets sacrificed every time we lie, regardless of intent. The lie you told your mother was a noble and appropriate one, and it's exactly the lie I would have told my mother too were I in your situation. I'd call that a noble sacrifice. But it's still a sacrifice. Something had to die (truth) in order for it to happen.

Imagine having to tell that same lie every day, perhaps multiple times a day. I think if you slowly kill the truth, bit by bit, over time, you corrupt your mind in ways we can't even imagine. And that's what the average person does (myself included) - we tell small lies constantly and slowly strangle our truth telling mechanisms. Death by 1000 cuts.

...and, crucially, we begin to conflate what we believe are noble lies with self-serving ones.

An example: I write on the medium platform, and it's a read-for-read process there, i.e. you read the people that read you and vice versa. That's the unspoken code.

It's practical. There's only so much time in a day and you can't read everyone. I don't read people who don't read me, but not out of bitterness or anything - it's just a case of quid pro quo. Everyone's trying to make a few bucks and that's just how it goes.

Anyway, when you read someone, you have the option to clap and comment. When you do, they know you've read their stuff.

I was able to do this for maybe 6 months. And then, one day, I simply couldn't do it anymore. It was making me ill (in a very real way). I'd clap or comment after reading 2 or 3 articles, flop into my bed, and zone out for an hour or two, feeling something like a paralyzing mental numbness..

It was because I was lying every day, multiple times a day, even though the lies were encouraging and perhaps even noble in some way ("Great piece Dave! Really enjoyed it! That part about your sister really made me laugh! Can't wait to read your next one!" etc etc etc) In a way it was noble, because I like to encourage writers, but I often didn't like the stories I was reading and was forced to pretend I did. And it was also self-serving of course, because I wanted them to read me back.

I think almost any lie, no matter how noble - when inspected with great scrutiny - will reveal some self-serving motive.

[Mike]

Little humorous anecdote I was just reminded of while talking to a friend:

This was in 2003/2004, and I was out with my friend Mike, who's a hothead with a penchant for fighting (at least then) and getting me involved in said fighting.

This night was no different - he gets into it with a couple guys. But after the conflict escalates we realize they're with 2 other guys as well, one of them being Ed Burris.

Ed Burris was a professional kickboxer and Syracuse legend. Everyone was terrified of Ed Burris, even police officers and bouncers. He was an extremely violent guy, who'd think nothing of knocking you out and then booting you in the head repeatedly while you were on the ground unconscious. I'd seen him do it.

This is Ed Burris btw (man on the left) He's enormous:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ns1-pod8-onset-s3/ns1_wt/s3fs-public/styles/cf_story_full_content/public/Image_cont_8fb9df531826f0f6a7d76ce1a49d1b38f2a03b48.jpeg?gT2EmZ0f8s1WtGmJWNactwkAj4Fqnhl7&itok=9ATbioc9

You can look him up on YouTube too.

Long story short, Ed Burris came out of nowhere and hit me, but right as he did some kind soul yelled "look out!" and I was able to roll with the punch just enough so that it didn't kill me. But still, it was like getting hit with a sledgehammer. I'd never been hit so hard in my life. I was seeing birdies for hours afterwards. Surely I was concussed. I have no memory of how we got out of there or how I didn't get killed.

Years later I worked at a clothing store called 'Structure', and after a couple months there they hired Ed Burris. He didn't recognize me thankfully. But after a couple weeks working with him I built up the courage to tell him the story about the time he hit me. He had no memory of it. The guy had been in hundreds of street fights.

Fast forward to a year later, and I'm downtown with Mike once again, and I see this man frantically running out of a bar, looking utterly terrified. He flies by me doing mach 10.. and maybe 15 seconds later here comes Eddy Burris, running after this poor soul with a grim determination.

When Ed sees me he stops and says, Which way did he go Mike? ..and here time stopped. There was some battle with my conscience going on, surely. Was I going to lie to Ed Burris and risk his wrath? Or tell the truth and get that poor bastard beat up (or worse)? Well,I lied:). And when Burris went sprinting in the direction I indicated, I went sprinting to my car! I ran for my life. By the time Ed figured out I'd lied, I needed to be at least 50 yards ahead of him..

Never saw Burris again after that, thank God.

[onawah]

Yes, DeLonge is part of that crowd. You would have to listen to some of Dark Journalist's talks to get the whole picture about the phony Disclosure agenda, as he has gone about as deep as anyone can go into that conspiracy who isn't actually a part of it.
Dr. Farrell, Whitney Webb, C.A. Fitts, John Warner IV are frequent guests on his shows and they all help to provide the missing pieces.
It's time consuming, but worth it if you really want to know what goes on behind the scenes.



I don't pay attention to Dolan nowadays due to his joining the recent phony Disclosure movement (fabricated by Lew Elizondo and that crowd), which veteran truth tellers/researchers par excellence Dr. Joseph Farrell and Dark Journalist Daniel Lizst have so thoroughly and completely discredited.


Hey Nat, what do ya mean by "joining the movement"? What's the nature of Richard's involvement?

Are you talking about the "To The Stars" thing with pop star Tom DeLonge?

[onawah]

Honestly, I don't think it would move me very much at all but just trigger the disappointment I felt when he went off track and became deluded by the current psyop.
I don't doubt that he was sincere at the time, but he's just not the same man today.


I don't pay attention to Dolan nowadays due to his joining the recent phony Disclosure movement (fabricated by Lew Elizondo and that crowd), which veteran truth tellers/researchers par excellence Dr. Joseph Farrell and Dark Journalist Daniel Lizst have so thoroughly and completely discredited.Dear Natalie, do listen to the audio. It's an inspiration, I absolutely promise. It builds and builds over 20 minutes. And it's not about ufology at all.


Here's Richard Dolan talking about his relationship with Truth, back in June 2017. In my opinion it's way the most powerful podcast he's ever made, on audio or video, about any topic.

It has quite an impact. I confess that this 20 minute final segment, linked below, left me very deeply moved. (For anyone who wants to hear the entire thing, it's here (https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017.mp3).)

https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

(https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3)https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Little humorous anecdote I was just reminded of while talking to a friend:

^ Good story. The guy who got away owes you one! :lol:

I'm not sure if the death by a thousand cuts analogy is apt in this instance. I feel that if what you're lying to protect is worth more than the cost to your conscience, then you stay in the black. I'm talking on the scale of service to others vs service to self. But again, every situation has its own unique variables.

Take the power of emotion as one example.

One night, years ago now (I was eighteen at the time), I got in my car at the end of a long day's work. It was late, and the carpark was dark, but I don't make that excuse -- I simply wasn't paying attention. In the process of backing out of my space I clipped another car. First came the expletive, then that dreaded sinking feeling. I dragged myself out to inspect the damage. All I could find was one small scratch to my chrome bumper, the paintwork was entirely untouched. The other car however... I'd caught one of the rear light clusters. It was totally smashed, fragments of glass littered the ground. That wasn't the worst part. The car belonged to a girl I was kind of hot on, and I'd spent the last few weeks trying my best to chat her up.

So, I had a dilemma. Come clean, and admit to what I'd done (probably dashing any chance I had with her), or climb back in my car and race the hell out of there before anyone saw what I did. I chose the latter, in approximately two seconds flat.

The next day at work there was a memo pinned to the noticeboard. Information was being sought on the 'accident' in the carpark the previous night that had damaged someone's car. Suffice it to say, none was ever forthcoming.

So yeah, I walked away whistling, hands behind my back. Did I feel bad about it? You bet. And I feel bad about it to this day. I chickened out. It was all for nothing anyway, I never did go out with that girl. But it is funny looking back. Probably 90% of the lies I ever told has a girl involved in the story somewhere. I guess that's another discussion. It could be called: "what love makes us do."

On a completely different note, Mike, about the writing, I know exactly where you're coming from. I used to post on Authonomy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarperCollins#Business_strategy), a resource for writers, which worked very much like Medium. The idea behind it was good, but in practise it didn't work. I only read other people so they'd read me, and likewise, they only read me to get read. It was exhausting, just as you described, and I didn't last more than a year. The platform eventually disbanded.

[Mike]

Little humorous anecdote I was just reminded of while talking to a friend:

^ Good story. The guy who got away owes you one! :lol:

I'm not sure if the death by a thousand cuts analogy is apt in this instance. I feel that if what you're lying to protect is worth more than the cost to your conscience, then you stay in the black. I'm talking on the scale of service to others vs service to self. But again, every situation has its own unique variables.

Take the power of emotion as one example.

One night, years ago now (I was eighteen at the time), I got in my car at the end of a long day's work. It was late, and the carpark was dark, but I don't make that excuse -- I simply wasn't paying attention. In the process of backing out of my space I clipped another car. First came the expletive, then that dreaded sinking feeling. I dragged myself out to inspect the damage. All I could find was one small scratch to my chrome bumper, the paintwork was entirely untouched. The other car however... I'd caught one of the rear light clusters. It was totally smashed, fragments of glass littered the ground. That wasn't the worst part. The car belonged to a girl I was kind of hot on, and I'd spent the last few weeks trying my best to chat her up.

So, I had a dilemma. Come clean, and admit to what I'd done (probably dashing any chance I had with her), or climb back in my car and race the hell out of there before anyone saw what I did. I chose the latter, in approximately two seconds flat.

The next day at work there was a memo pinned to the noticeboard. Information was being sought on the 'accident' in the carpark the previous night that had damaged someone's car. Suffice it to say, none was ever forthcoming.

So yeah, I walked away whistling, hands behind my back. Did I feel bad about it? You bet. And I feel bad about it to this day. I chickened out. It was all for nothing anyway, I never did go out with that girl. But it is funny looking back. Probably 90% of the lies I ever told has a girl involved in the story somewhere. I guess that's another discussion. It could be called: "what love makes us do."

On a completely different note, Mike, about the writing, I know exactly where you're coming from. I used to post on Authonomy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarperCollins#Business_strategy), a resource for writers, which worked very much like Medium. The idea behind it was good, but in practise it didn't work. I only read other people so they'd read me, and likewise, they only read me to get read. It was exhausting, just as you described, and I didn't last more than a year. The platform eventually disbanded.


I'm inclined to agree with you there, with maybe just a little pushback (I'll elaborate in a moment). Instead of parsing apart all the various degrees of lies, and the value of telling them or not, it might just be enough to say that if your conscience is pestering you to tell a tough truth or come clean about a lie (or to tell a noble lie) then we know it's appropriate to do so...and it doesn't really require a detailed explanation. Something like that...

And with the exception of sociopaths maybe, I'm convinced everyone has some version of a conscience.

Most of the lies I've ever told were to women as well:) But in my defense, they were never really to make myself look good necessarily...they were told mainly to prevent me from looking so bad! For instance, I might lie about a job (I'd say I was a manager at such n such when in reality I was just working swap meets) or when I lived in California I wasn't above lying about which part of NY I was from (the city is just much cooler than upstate, let's face it). They were relatively small lies, but they became exhausting over time because I had to 1) remember them and 2) elaborate on them when questions were asked.

Re: if you're lying to protect something worth more than the effect it has on conscience: Yep, I think I agree with the thinking there, basically. Thankfully, events that force us into this conundrum don't happen too often. I just don't know if I trust that your average person will be willing to make that distinction (the one between noble lies and the rest) consistently, across time, and will erroneously imagine they're winning small battles when in actuality they're forfeiting the war.

There are lies that we really should tell (the one with your Mom, and mine with Burris perhaps) but the very distinct line drawn beneath those types of lies is often deliberately blurred to justify an entirely different kind of lie, one that usually results in a short term peace at the expense of a long term one. It almost seems like a noble lie, but it ain't. I'm struggling to think of examples for some reason, but one might be neglecting to tell a friend the truth about his drug problem, or avoiding a difficult discussion with your spouse about something because you know it'll hurt her feelings or worse(even though if you don't it will only fuel your growing resentment towards her and result in something far more serious down the line...or in the case of the drug addicted friend, perhaps his death).

We all have a conscience, but sometimes we're quite good at ignoring it, all under the guise that our lies were necessary in some way...and I'd argue that, with few exceptions, most of the time they're not.

P.s. I actually DID see Ed Burris again. I was wrong about that. I saw him at an ice cream kiosk when I was with my uncle. I hid behind my uncle's van and ate my ice cream at a record pace and then chewed my nails as my uncle took his sweet time eating his. I don't know if Ed saw me or not, but he never said anything.

[Mike]

Honestly, I don't think it would move me very much at all but just trigger the disappointment I felt when he went off track and became deluded by the current psyop.
I don't doubt that he was sincere at the time, but he's just not the same man today.


I don't pay attention to Dolan nowadays due to his joining the recent phony Disclosure movement (fabricated by Lew Elizondo and that crowd), which veteran truth tellers/researchers par excellence Dr. Joseph Farrell and Dark Journalist Daniel Lizst have so thoroughly and completely discredited.Dear Natalie, do listen to the audio. It's an inspiration, I absolutely promise. It builds and builds over 20 minutes. And it's not about ufology at all.


Here's Richard Dolan talking about his relationship with Truth, back in June 2017. In my opinion it's way the most powerful podcast he's ever made, on audio or video, about any topic.

It has quite an impact. I confess that this 20 minute final segment, linked below, left me very deeply moved. (For anyone who wants to hear the entire thing, it's here (https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017.mp3).)

https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

(https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3)https://projectavalon.net/Richard_Dolan_Show_5_June_2017_final_segment.mp3

It gets even worse. Rumor has it he's engaged to Kim Goguen now.
:hug:

[onawah]

Mike, however, is still the same man I used to know who could always crack me up. :ROFL:

[holcaul]

Thank you so much Mike, it is always a pleasure to hear James Lindsey talk. He is eternally inspiring.

Sorry Bill, I am with onawah on this Dolan audio excerpt. Maybe he was sincere back then but knowing what I know now hearing him say "...be brave, be good" and "...I am making this commitment right now. I want my life to be committed to the truth...". He is very disappointing. How quickly he forgot this. And for what, for a spot in the limelight? For TV documentary deals? For promises to be the leader of the "disclosure" movement?

He wrote 2 seminal books on the relationship between the UFO phenomenon and the Security State and then sold his soul to the very same Security State. I am too cynical towards him to be moved by this audio excerpt of him from the summer of 2017. Especially considering the fact that the current fake/CIA "disclosure"
that Dolan is refusing to call out can cost us our planet.

[norman]

Mel K & Dr. James Lindsay | Know Thy Enemy: Defining & Defeating the Existential Threat to Our Freedom (https://podbay.fm/p/the-mel-k-show/e/1711755371)
1 hour 26 minutes - Posted Mar 29, 2024

James Lindsey harnesses up well in the load carrying effort for freedom too. In this interview he scans the situation we are in at least as well as General George S. Patton. An amazingly joined up thinker.

https://rumble.com/v4mcfwq-mel-k-and-dr.-james-lindsay-know-thy-enemy-defining-and-defeating-the-exist.html

v4jr80n/?pub=4

[Jaak]

Story of Boethius seems to fit into this topic. I highly recommend it.
WDzF9Yx9hlk

[norman]

A section near the end of this long podcast gets into taking about James Lindsey. All participants in the conversation admire and respect him and his work but an interesting criticism comes up. The relevant section is not very long and I think this link will start at the right place for it. If it doesn't, go there manually, to 1 hour 28 minutes.

The whole podcast took a surprising turn for me about half way through when I found out more about the guy who invented podcasting, who is one of the participants.

Union of the Unwanted : 86 : Adam Curry (https://podbay.fm/p/the-union-of-the-unwanted/e/1711473126?t=5281)