Denny VrandečićMay 20

"Maria and Peter are students and meet up for a late dinner. Peter asks Maria whether Tom is at the party that they intend to go to after dinner. Maria answers that Tom is at the party. After all, Tom had told her that he would be at the party. When they arrive at the party, it turns out that Tom had changed his plans, and is not at the party. Was Maria's answer true or false?"

#truth #philosophy #cognition

(please spread for visibility, I would like this to be as wide as possible)

1/2

Maria's answer was true
32.6%
Maria's answer was false
67.4%
Poll ended at .
Show threadDenny VrandečićMay 20

A new study shows that there is much, much less agreement on the answer to this question than I would have expected. Even after reading about the study, I still expect people in my bubble to have the same answer as I do. Let's see. But this probably means that the meaning of truth, in the general population, is simply different from what I would have assumed. And explains a number of public discourses.

2/2

https://reason.com/2026/05/15/the-surprising-divide-over-what-counts-as-true/

New study investigates why people disagree about what's true

A new study finds that what people think about facts, authenticity, or coherent beliefs explains why they disagree about what is true.

Reason.com
Show threadjanjkoMay 20
@vrandecic so some people equate someone lying to someone's statement being false? Then they should have a different word for someone being unintentionally wrong?
Show threadDenny VrandečićMay 20
@janjko yeah, I have the same problem. I would say Maria never lied. But for me, that doesn't mean what she said is true.
Show threadRob van Kan🔻May 20
@vrandecic @janjko as far as she knew, it was true.
Show thread\u1f0a1May 20
@edgeofeurope @vrandecic @janjko No, she had no way of knowing it was true.
Show threadHiker Geek 🌲💻🌲

@bnlandor @edgeofeurope @vrandecic @janjko

I think she can be pretty sure that it's true Tom told her he would be at the party.

What Tom said to her wasn't true.

May 22 at 8:27pmWeb
Show threadMelvin GundlachMay 22
@HikerGeek @bnlandor @edgeofeurope @vrandecic @janjko Yes, but that wasn’t the question. If the question was if Tom *said* he would be at the party, then yes. As it is written, Maria’s statement is false (even though not an intentional lie).