“Everyone has a plan until they get lied to the face” by Screwtape

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." - Mike Tyson (The exact phrasing of that quote changes, this is my favourite.) I think there is an open, important weakness in many people. We assume those we communicate with are basically trustworthy. Further, I think there is an important flaw in the current rationality community. We spend a lot of time focusing on subtle epistemic mistakes, teasing apart flaws in methodology and practicing the principle of charity. This creates a vulnerability to someone willing to just say outright false things. We’re kinda slow about reacting to that. Suggested reading: Might People on the Internet Sometimes Lie, People Will Sometimes Just Lie About You. Epistemic status: My Best Guess. I. Getting punched in the face is an odd experience. I'm not sure I recommend it, but people have done weirder things in the name of experiencing novel psychological states. If it happens in a somewhat safety-negligent sparring ring, or if you and a buddy go out in the back yard tomorrow night to try it, I expect the punch gets pulled and it's still weird. There's a jerk of motion your eyes try to catch up [...] ---Outline:(01:03) I.(03:30) II.(07:33) III.(09:55) 4. The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: November 14th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5LFjo6TBorkrgFGqN/everyone-has-a-plan-until-they-get-lied-to-the-face --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.