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Comment by JumpCrisscross | Hacker News Reader

> he's not actually trying to scam anyone

Consider replacing "actually" with "intentionally"? He's actually trying to sell a lie. Whether he knows it's a lie might be another matter, and I'll grant you the benefit of doubt around his delusion.

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Try this:

Go to Google and ask it "who invented email".

Interestingly, Bing gives a different answer.

remember if you find that an answer that google finds is misleading or inaccurate there's a box right there you can click to provide feedback

If you go to do that, they tell you your input won't affect the ranking of any page. So what's the point of giving feedback?

There is no direct effect on rankings of any page because bad search result does not necessarily mean the web page is bad. Also it is dangerous to leave users affect the results in such a simple way. The point of giving feedback is to help the search team improve their algorithms.

Before you hit enter Bing gives him as well, with a headshot.

It's by definition not a lie if he believes it to be true.

The first step to telling a believable lie is to believe the lie yourself, because then you won't display the subconscious displays of deceit on your face. There's a Seinfeld episode where George tells Jerry that if he wants to get better at lying, he has to convince himself of the lie first.

So I don't entirely think that the teller of the lie needs to believe that it's a lie for it to be a lie. If they believe it, it just means that they're deceiving themselves as well.

I think for a lie, there needs to be an intent to deceive, at some time. Otherwise, I'm not sure where I'd draw the line between being mistaken and telling a lie.

At some time, yes - but the one telling the lie does not need to be the one intending to lie. One may believe something that is a lie and spread it to other people, without actually lying himself. Like a teacher in elementary/high school who teaches what she believes is true about WWII. At some point, she may get to tell some lie, without being aware of that, hence without lying herself - the lie could be intended by the authors or censors of the curriculum and those would be the ones intending the lie.

The way he's so gone about creating domains/websites to establish legitimacy strongly suggests he knows it not to be true IMO.

Aside: Interesting to reflect on how Google's past domain keyword preferences allow grandfathering in of domain authority.

No, thanks. Not interested in a pointless fight over semantics.

Doesn't need to be a fight. You could just correct your misstatement

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