Hi Ranty Nation!  Ranty McRantyson har agin!

Ah’ve bin watchin me sum TeeVee over the last few days an it struck me that certain folk present infurmation differntly than others do.  After thunkin bout it fur awhile, ah figured out why they’all wuz doin whut ah wuz seein.  Most of the stuff below is whut ah’ve seen them TeeVee an politician-like folk doin.  But remember that conmen an such like use the same tricks to git y’all to believe they’s lies.

How to Lie to Sumone Witout “Lying” to Them!

In another talk, ah mentioned a couple ways folk cud lie to y’all.  One of them wuz to include enuf truth in the lie that y’all’d believe that the whole thang wuz true. That’s cuz sum folk’ll thunk that if’n the obviously “true” part is true, then the rest of whut’s bein said must be true! An ah’ll git to this one again in another part of this har series.

When ah wuz a kid, ah loved watchin me sum Bruce Lee movies.  An this idea of “lyin witout lyin” kinda reminds me of one of his movies.  In it, he wuz asked whut “fightin style” he used.  An they’s wuz spectin sumthin like “kung fu”, “karate”, “tae kwon do”, etc.  But he said his fightin style wuz the style of “fightin witout fightin”.  Lyin witout lyin’s sumthin kinda like that!

Why do Folk Fall fur Lies?

Well, they’s all kinds of reasons really smart folk who research the “science of lies” thunk that folk fall fur lies.  Fur me, ah thunk it be fur one basic reason: that most folk’re honest an they really can’t imagin sumone who has a lotta folk trustin them wud lie to them.  Specially, not be shameless bout they’s lies.

Honest folk feel bad when they lie an thunk that others wud feel the same way.  Problem is, as the old sayin goes, “Power corrupts an absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  So when folk git powerful, that power has a way of corruptin folk an wit all that corruptin goin on, tellin lies ain’t that big a deal to them.

At least that’s mah theory, so take it fur whut it’s wurth.

Anyhoo, let’s git back to talkin bout ways folk git lied to.

A Tricky Way Fur Lying: Number 1

Ask leadin questions so that people will fill in the “blanks” wit they’s own biases.  If’n y’all know the biases folk have, an load the question wit the right (usually negative) wurds, then y’all can lead folks to the wrong conclusion.  In other wurds, lie to the listeners by makin them lie to themselfs.  It’s all bout usin wurds wit the right “connotation” (a fancy wurd meanin “suggestin a meanin that it really don’t have”) an way of sayin the wurds (like it be bad, when it’s really a gud thang).

Connotation

Accordin to dictionary.com, the word “connotation” means:

1. a. the associated or secondary meaning of a word or expression in addition to its explicit or primary meaning
   b. the act of connoting; the suggesting of an additional meaning for a word or expression, apart from its explicit meaning

When we’all’re talkin bout lying witout lying, the definition 1.b. above is the one that’s most important.  Especially wit “conmen”, they use a wurd’s “connotation” to trick folk rather than whut a wurd really means.  “Conmen” (aka “CONfidence MEN”) are called that cuz they git y’all to be confident (trust) in them, then they’s rob y’all.  They do this cuz if’n theys told folk the truth, then them conmen wudn’t be able to con anyone!

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Now ah gotta admit that “neuro-linguistic programmin” is the fanciest buncha wurds that ah’ve used on this site so far.  Durned if’n it ain’t like ah’ve gittin all academical-like!  Thang is that while the term is fancy, the meanin’s purty straight forward.  “Neuro-liguistic programmin” means:

“NLP’s creators claim there is a connection between neurological processes (neuro-), language (linguistic) and behavioral patterns learned through experience (programming), and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life.”  — Wikipedia.com

Now ah gotta be clear bout one thang.  They’s sum purty edjumacated folk, mostly psychologists, out thar that thunk NLP’s a buncha baloney!  Thang is, we’all see it bein used all round us.  Not only that, but business folk, who don’t spend money on much that don’t makes them more money, spend a lot on marketin, using “NLP”.

Why the Differnce Tween Psychologists an Business Folk?

Well, originally, these two psychologists thunked that if’n they used certain wurds an teached they’s patients to use an thunks wit certain wurds, rather’n usin others, then the psychologists cud git folk to change how they behave.  Unfurtunately fur them psychologists, they’s patients had problems that were deeper’n them changin whut wurds they’all’d use cud fix they’s problems.

Psychologist folk were studyin how to use wurds to git folk to change the way they’s behave.  Business folk decided to take all the psychological research bout wurds an use it to git folk to change they’s decisions.  This wuz a huge area of research in business wit marketin folk fur the last 40 or so years.  I guess they figured that it wuz better, an easier, to trick folk into buyin a so-so product than to jus make a better product!

So, how’s NLP bein used fur to make us make certain decisions… even decisions that won’t be gud fur us?  Well, let’s take a look at an example of how they’s might do it.

An Example of Number 1

In mah last Back to Basics (B2B) talk bout unions, ah mentioned, real quick-like, how politicians used one wurd to make a bill seem like it wud do one gud thang, when it actually did sumthin totally differnt.  So let’s look a bit deeper bout how politicians sold the “Patriot Act” to Mericans.

Example of Usin Connotation in NLP fur Lying to Folk

In that B2B talk ah said that the Patriot Act wuzn’t the gud thang voters’re told it wuz.  An that all started wit its name.  Now y’all’re probly thunkin, “Ranty, whut the heck?  How can a name be lyin?”  Well, let’s talk bout that.

Y’see, theys called it the “Patriot” Act.  They’s idea wuz that they’all knew they’s voters thunk they’s wuz “patriots”.  An that they’all thunk that bein a “patriot” wuz the best way they cud be an Merican.  Thang wuz, they’s voters didn’t always know whut bein a “patriot” really meant, jus that it wuz gud an they’s voters wanted to be “gud”.

Fur the record, bein a “patriot” means:

“2 a person who regards himself or herself as a defender, especially of individual rights, against presumed interference by the federal government.  — dictionary.com

Now most folk’d thunk that’s a purty gud thang to be as a Merican.  An they’d be right!

How a Lot of the “Patriot Act” Weren’t so “Patriotic”

Thang is, the “Patriot” Act didn’t always do whut most folk thunked it wud do.  Whut ah mean is that folk hurd the name an thunked, “Bein a patriot’s a gud thang, so anythang named the ‘Patriot Act’, must be a gud thang, right?”

The thang is, while the Patriot Act did have sum stuff that wuz gud fur protectin Mericans an Merica, it also had stuff that whittled away at the US Constitution’s protections all citizens have.  Like the protections in the Furst, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, an Tenth amendments in the “Bill of Rights“, fur example.  Ah’m not gonna git into the specifics in this har talk, but ah will say that the so-called Patriot Act did a lot of harm to regular Merican’s rights, at least in mah opinion.

So, while this bill put on the “connotation” of “patriotism”, it really did the opposite by usin “NLP” to git regular Mericans to support it cuz they called it the “Patriot Act”.  The long an short of it, is they’s use a lot of fancy and/or “gud” wurds to git y’all thunkin one thang an then give y’all sumthin almost exactly differnt.  Y’all might almost call it the “bait an switch” way of lyin.

On to Lying Witout Lying, Part 2

Well, ah thunk that’s probly gud enuf fur one part of this.  Needless to say, this har talk’s become a lot longer’n ah furst figured.  So ah’ll post Part 2 har in a couple days…

Ranty McRantyson signin off fur now!