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Comment by executesorder66 | Hacker News Reader

The harm to others is the broken trust. Every time someone willing spreads misinformation it makes people think less of other people and life in general.

The fact that we are reading about this now, shows that people were negatively affected by it. It wasn't a harmless activity.

People should be called out for intentionally spreading misinformation, and they should feel bad about it, and people shouldn't trust anything they say again for a very long time. Don't feel sorry for these assholes, and don't let them get away with it, because that encourages them to continue this sort of behavior.

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> broken trust

That's the thing. If we don't trust, or accept that trust may not be merited, then there's nothing to break.

I know some outrageous characters. Many, are decent folks, in their way, but I wouldn't trust them to handle any kind of meaningful responsibility.

But I enjoy having them in my life, and have no intentions of driving them away, or avoiding them.

I have a cat. He's a great little guy. But if I pick him up, and I don't make him feel secure, he will scratch me. He doesn't want to hurt me, but he needs to dig into something to feel secure; even if that "something" is my chest.

It's possible to have relationships with folks that have no boundaries, and we need to maintain our own boundaries, ourselves, as opposed to rely on others, to respect them.

That said, we also don't need to defend our boundaries with nukes. Often, a simple "No, I don't want to do that." is sufficient, as opposed to "This is bear spray! Stay away!".

> That's the thing. If we don't trust, or accept that trust may not be merited, then there's nothing to break.

Yeah but to get to that point you have to break the trust you had in them or people in general, so my point remains. Or did you from the day of your birth assume everyone is lying to you about everything?

I guess we'll not come to agreement, here.

Let's just say that I have spent my entire adult life, in close relationships with some of the most untrustworthy S.O.B.s on earth, and have learned to deal with it.

Many folks think, because I am friendly, open, and kind, that I'm weak, naive, and gullible.

They tend to get quite upset, when they find out, that's not the case.

I'm not saying that the way you deal with untrustworthy people is wrong. I think it is a perfectly fine way to go about it.

My point is that these lying assholes are not doing something "harmless".

Depends. It depends on who believes them, and what decisions those people make.

I realize that most folks don't have four decades' worth of experience, dealing with hardened criminals, con artists, and generally delusional people, to firm up their personal boundaries.

I've found that a good start, is not to do things like apply emotionally-charged labels to the folks doing this. If they are dangerous, or present a risk, they may be sanctioned, imprisoned, whatever.

But I have found, in my experience, that offering kindness, where none is expected, is often key to helping folks turn things around.

As I said, many of these people are living in their own personal hell, where they hate themselves, and the world around them, and that tends to set up a reinforcement feedback loop.

For the sake of argument, teaching people to be skeptical in this low stakes context might not be the worst thing.

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