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bloody_peasant
Skeptic Friend
USA
139 Posts |
 Posted - 03/24/2005 : 14:45:06
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I find this article although a little off topic quite revealing about the ability of people to deceive and lie about their own reality. This is very similar to the claims of alien abductions, religious miracles, demonic possessions.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-511739.php
Some highlights to get the gist:quote:
Cottone said war hero impostors are often regular Joes, low on self-esteem. They often dress up as service members and attend events such as Veterans Day parades or other veteran functions to somehow earn respect or live the lives they never led.
quote:
"It's like offering heroin to a junkie," he said. And they do it first and foremost for attention and glory. "All these guys, they get a psychological rush.
"Having people looking at them, saying, ‘Wow,' it gives them accomplishments they never had," he said.
quote:
Impostors know exactly what they're doing; they calculate, they deceive, they steal the honor of others, he said. Often, they even have their families fooled, said Cottone, who once put a stop to a military funeral for a deceased phony veteran only hours before the ceremony was to begin.
If people are willing to commit such deceptions that are very easy to prove false just for a psychological rush, esteem boost, or some other gain then how many people are willing to claim to be abducted by aliens, the victim of a demonic possession or the recipient of some other supernatural phenomena for which there is no way to disprove.
I bring this up because the main piece of evidence claimed by supporters of such supernatural events is all of the personal testimonies out there. This is typically followed up with the typical "how can so many people lie about something they know is not true." This article highlights that such mass deceptions are quite common and done for a myriad of reasons. The fact that its a supernatural event just makes it that much easier for the deceiver to pull off as the supernatural event unlike being a war hero is impossible to disprove.
These people deceive their friends, the public, and even their own family members for their entire life about a military history that is pure fantasy. Its not a big step to see others doing the same thing with supernatural events. I'm sure some are truly psychologically unstable and may suffer from sort of psychosis, but it appears that many are quite aware of what they are doing and doing it for some sort of calculated gain even if it is simply some form of esteem boost.
BTW by saying "impossible to disprove" when referring to supernatural events I am meaning such events by their very nature are impossible to disprove as it is also possible to disprove a negative. Also the fact that people perform such deceptions logically doesn't mean all cases of supposed supernatural events are false. It just shows that testimonial evidence even by large numbers of people is extremely unreliable.
Cheers,
BP
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2005 : 15:14:11 [Permalink]
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I liked this bit: quote:
At one such reunion in Missouri, the special agent caught a wheelchair-bound man posing as a medal recipient. When Cottone confronted him, the man got out of the wheelchair, packed it in his van and drove away, Cottone said.
Very good read. Glad you posted it.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
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Dr. Mabuse
Septic Fiend
Sweden
9688 Posts |
Posted - 03/24/2005 : 15:17:30 [Permalink]
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Hello bloody_peasant, and welcome to Skeptic Friends Network!
This is some very interesting stuff.
Thanks for bringing this article to our attention. |
Dr. Mabuse - "When the going gets tough, the tough get Duct-tape..."
Dr. Mabuse whisper.mp3
"Equivocation is not just a job, for a creationist it's a way of life..." Dr. Mabuse
Support American Troops in Iraq:
Send them unarmed civilians for target practice..
Collateralmurder. |
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bloody_peasant
Skeptic Friend
USA
139 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2005 : 06:17:38 [Permalink]
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| Thanks for the welcome :> |
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sweetmiracle
Skeptic Friend
USA
74 Posts |
Posted - 03/25/2005 : 14:47:05 [Permalink]
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Yes, hello, bloody_peasant, and thank you very much for the article.
Monty Python fan, I take it? |
Remarkable claims require remarkable proof.
-Carl Sagan |
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bloody_peasant
Skeptic Friend
USA
139 Posts |
Posted - 03/28/2005 : 11:36:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
Monty Python fan, I take it?
Why yes! There's some lovely filth down here so I thought I would join in >:-D
Cheers,
BP |
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