Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohio
I have come across this countless times -- people change their tone when repeating their version of the story, in order to justify themselves. I have done it myself. This "change in tone" WN would call lying, and rightly so.
|
This is really a different issue to me than tone. It is about witness. Repeating a version of a story is not a witness. Even repeating it word for word deadpan is not a witness. If you are not a witness, then you are not a witness and to say anything is to risk bearing false witness as you do not know for certain that what you are repeating is true. In American jurisprudence, it is call hearsay.
But the fact that due to my considerations surrounding something my tone changes does not create or destroy veracity. What I say stands on its own. And for this reason, I consider that bringing in preferences, opinions, emotions, even tone, etc., is to ignore the veracity of a statement in favor of something truly irrelevant.
And like profiling, it may be that certain kinds of tone (or whatever) could be an indicator of a fabrication. But as it is not definitionally so, it is not a valid determinant. It might be righteously pointed to as a reason to "raise a red flag" or "put up your guard," but it does not determine veracity. Only the facts do that.