liar

6 Stories

He Lied in Elaborate Ways. But to What End?
He Lied in
Elaborate Ways.
But to What End?
longform

He Lied in Elaborate Ways. But to What End?

Christopher Massimine was a pathological liar—did he have control over it?

(Newser) - Are pathological liars conniving or mentally ill? In Christopher Massimine's case, he says it's the latter. The 36-year-old was last year uncomfortably thrust into the spotlight when it emerged the resume he used to land the job as managing director of the Pioneer Theater Company in Salt Lake...

Million-Dollar Author Admits to a Big Lie

Dan Mallory says he never really had cancer

(Newser) - A best-selling author who apparently likes lying about himself has admitted to a whopper: He never really had brain cancer, the BBC reports. Dan Mallory's admission came in response to a New Yorker profile about his many alleged fabrications. "I felt intensely ashamed of my psychological struggles—they...

There May Be a Way to Stop People From BSing
There May Be
a Way to Stop
People From BSing
NEW STUDY

There May Be a Way to Stop People From BSing

Simply calling them out on the facts usually works, suggests a new study

(Newser) - Why do people BS, and what can make them stop doing it? A new study suggests the bull tends to flow when people feel social pressure to have an opinion on something—even if they don't fully understand the subject, per Poynter . And it's worse if people don'...

Kids Who Lie Well Have Another Skill, Too

Kids who can fib score high marks in a certain memory test

(Newser) - Children shouldn't lie to their elders, right? Fair enough, but a new study says the best child liars possess superior verbal working memory skills, the BBC reports. Researchers at the University of Sheffield gathered more than 100 children, ages six and seven, and told them not to peek at...

Tall-Tale Tellers Vie for Best Lie

Politicians, lawyers banned from contest

(Newser) - Fantastic fibbers are gathering at a remote pub in northwestern England today to vie for the title of world's biggest liar. The annual competition is held at the Bridge Inn in the Lake District hamlet of Santon Bridge. Contestants have five minutes to impress the judges with a whopping...

Do We Have the Right to Lie?
 Do We Have the Right to Lie? 

Do We Have the Right to Lie?

A case puts pressure on the power of the First Amendment

(Newser) - Xavier Alvarez was never a Detroit Red Wings player, or married to a Mexican celeb. But he told those lies, along with a third—that he was a former Marine who had received the Congressional Medal of Honor—and was charged with a felony under the Stolen Valor Act of...

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