If anyone ever told a believable lie and then called you gullible, that’s stupid.
The point of “messing with someone” is to toe the edge of what is believable to see how they react. If you end up straying into the realm of “totally unbelievable” without an incredulous reaction, then the label of “gullible” is deserved.
It’s like a friendly duel of wits. An opportunity to sharpen each other’s blades without any stakes. Probably a social survival mechanism.
I am horrible at lying and I don’t understand how people can do it so easily. Not just the instant creativity of coming up with something plausible, but then they have to remember that AND whom they told which lie to, in case that gets referenced or brought up later. How on earth do you manage something like that?
There are benevolent lies that I have told, and I follow a different method. Whenever one of these lies has to be told, I start by working backwards. I figure out what the goal of the lie is, and then what the lie should be. I try to figure out how to work that into my actual life. And then, that simply becomes reality. I dont have to remember who Ive told it to because its what I tell anyone curious. If people meet up and talk, they all have the matching story.
As someone who “lies for fun” (eg. As a joke) it’s honestly all about the delivery. It doesn’t have to be plausible. If you say everything with a straight face it throws people off.
I got really good at telling little lies because my parents were the type of shitheads to interrogate and blame me for literally any problem. they would refuse to believe me when I told the truth so I found it more convenient to tell them what I thought they’d more likely believe. I think this is a good skill to have but it has fucked me over before because I used to default to doing that with any authority figure.
Lie as little as possible, and always tell them to different groups that won’t discuss them with each other.
Source: “Why didn’t you make your homework?”
