LIAR

LIAR

Tom Tom it has to be said was well known as being a liar. Some people
abhorred this trait in an otherwise amiable young man but most simply
shrugged, rolled their eyes and pointed to the fact that he had always
been like that, ever since he was a little boy. It was the general
consensus that his lies were, on the whole, harmless to others, as they
nearly always concerned himself. So if you paid a blind bit of notice
to his boasts and exaggerations then it was your own fault. This had
led to Tom Tom being left on the margins of the community. Accepted but
never wholly embraced. Which, as his behaviour almost certainly stemmed
from a feeling of insecurity, tended to fuel the fire and perpetuate
the status quo.
However Tom Tom had been lucky. He had had the fortune to be born into
the latter part of the twentieth century. The silicone age. His
ostracism led to him seeking solace in a world where he could be
anything he wanted, he could pretend, exaggerate and lie at will. The
internet offered an almost infinite number of people who would never
find him out. Not that being found out especially bothered him - he had
become steeled to that particular little inconvenience. But on the `net
he was anonymous.
He had been a late starter. Computers being noticeable by their absence
when he had attended the local high school. Sony had provided the
Promethian spark when they introduced their computer generated game
machine 'Playstation'. Tom Tom soon became an addict. He awaited the
newest game releases with as much anxiety as any ten pound bag heroin
junkie. Once purchased and wrappers ripped off, the discs were slotted
into the machine with shaking, sweaty, hands eager to commence with the
required reactions on the console. Then, like a Zen Buddhist becoming
one with his machine, he would relax as his body prepared itself for
the long stint ahead.
His first p.c. provided the next salient progression in Tom Tom`s
digital development. The first time he surfed the `net it was as if he
could feel the images squeezing along his optic nerves and indelibly
imprinting themselves into the very being of his psyche. He had come of
age. Indeed it would certainly be impossible for him to go back to his
old self but of course he had no desire to return to anything so
sterile and futile as a computer illiterate slug.
The trap gate had sprung and Tom Tom was running so hard the hare was
in serious danger. Chat and MUD rooms were his first [and most
endearing] love. He was : handsome, athletic, intelligent, funny,
angry, sad, tall, English, Scottish, American, Irish, soldier, sailor,
magician, comedian, etc. He could be anything he wanted to be, he even
became a woman. Of course Tom Tom was not an exclusive cheat, indeed
the `net is full of people doing exactly the same [some of them
dangerous, predatory, individuals trawling for naive and gullible
victims] but he differed from the run of the mill deceivers in one
significant way - he believed it.
Adopting fraudulent personas on the internet was for Tom Tom just an
extension of his real life. Although prevented from re-inventing his
identity in a small town he had long been a past master as far as
incredulous invented deeds were concerned. These were his very
existence, the core of his being and so subsequently in order for him
to exist it was necessary for him to believe his own lies. This
'belief' was unconventional. Though he was aware of the fabrication of
their content, for Tom Tom the stories were [or rather seemed to be]
buttressed with something authentic
* * *
The cruelty of children towards each other is well documented and in
diluted forms is sometimes considered as being a perfectly normal
activity - as in, being a part of growing up. An opinion which may or
may not be viewed as acceptable depending on your particular
standpoint. What is almost certain however is that if you happen to be
the object of the brunt of this 'acceptable behaviour' you are likely
to have a somewhat differing view. Children who find themselves in this
situation can sometimes develop ingenious strategies which are used to
deflect this unwanted attention. For Tom Tom it was story telling. Of
course he told lies as all children [and adults] tend to do but his
speciality lay in telling fantastic, outlandish and impossible tales,
which despite their unlikely content were found to be a source of
entertainment. The reason for this was twofold; the first concerned [as
you might expect] the ammunition the stories provided, in the way of
taunting and ridicule and secondly they contained the sort of imagery
that children find entertaining.[ Although it must be pointed out that
any self respecting 'normal' child would deny any such affiliation to
the latter.] This was because Tom Tom possessed a vivid and amusing
imagination coupled with a not inconsiderable intellect. He was far
from stupid.
This defence mechanism though, progressed beyond its original purpose
and became an integral part of Tom Tom`s personality. Also, like him,
it had matured with age. The childish rhetoric about fantastic trips to
the moon [peppered with all sorts of entertaining extras such as what
to expect from the people who lived there] had evolved to accommodate
adult themes and expectations. In fact, if he had been so inclined, he
would certainly have been able to hold his own as a more than competent
con artist.
However his destiny lay elsewhere. He enrolled into the local college
to study computing and amazed the lecturers with his dedication and
ability. University was next where he even made some friends, fellow
misfit 'geeks' maybe but friends never the less. They became
accomplished 'hackers' at a time when defensive technology had yet to
be perfected to combat this newest of heinous crimes. As a result Tom
Tom accumulated a very healthy bank balance indeed. He was an extremely
wealthy young man. The money enabled him to purchase the very latest
software and electronic gadgets and he amused himself for many long
hours. This amusement though could be only mildly construed as a form
of happiness.
One night he was sitting in front of his p.c. as usual, eating burgers
and drinking litres of coca - cola. He decided to find a new chatline,
one he`d never used before, something a little different. He scanned
the chat listed in the latest edition of one of the many compmags that
he subscribed to and for some reason, he could not explain to himself,
circled one which read : articulate- chatline for intellectuals,
thinkers, writers, artists and students; www.articulate.com

Tom Tom > hello everyone
PSYCHO-analyst > hi
Phil Ossofer > greetings
PSYCHO-analyst > hope we find you well in mind body&; soul
Tom Tom > two of those
PSYCHO-analyst > aha may I inquire into which two
Tom Tom > mind &; body
PYSYCHO-analyst > *S* a troubled soul is not an exclusive complaint
in these times. Anything specific ?
Tom Tom > I am tormented by my inability to tell the truth
PYSYCHO-analyst > believe me when telling lies you are indulging in
a universal human activity
Tom Tom > with me its different I make up stories I have done ever
since I was a child
PSYCHO-analyst > that's interesting
Tom Tom > could you offer me any explanation
PSYCHO-analyst > certainly. I would of course need to know much more
about your case to offer an accurate in-depth diagnosis but I can offer
you a brief general explanation if you feel you might benefit
Tom Tom > why not please do
PSYCHO-analyst > okay I will offer three differing possible causes
One from the behaviourist school and two from psychoanalysis
1. Behaviourists would say that the cause is due to you being rewarded
in some way for your behaviour. This does not necessarily mean that you
have been handed gifts with red ribbons attached but some kind of
social kudos may have been granted to you and this has led to the
reinforcement of the behaviour
2. The Freudian school would suggest that you are defending your ego
from some inner conflict that rages in your unconscious mind which
almost certainly was repressed during early childhood.
3. Jungians would suggest that you are attempting to connect with your
collective consciousness
Tom Tom > what is collective consciousness?
PSYCHO-analyst > the way people think today is very new- religions,
science, logical thought etc. For centuries men had to rely on and were
much more in contact with their immediate environment so folklore
involved more than just sitting round firesides telling tall
tales........for example, the spirit that lived in and looked after the
river was real, it existed for everybody not just the person that told
of its existence..it became part of the collective conscious...and Jung
believed that with the coming of science and its rational explanations
we destroyed something within ourselves that made us human...what you
may be doing is trying to get in contact with something which we have
all lost.
Phil Ossifer > mmmmmm intriguing as always anal
PSYCHO-analyst > well thank you my learned fiend...ehm sorry
friend...feel free to contribute...we cant have the young man starvedof
a philosophical opinion now can we
Phil Ossifer > my thoughts precisely ..do you mind Tom?
Tom Tom > no no please go ahead.
Phil Ossifer > well I would like to point out that within this
concept there exists a semantic paradox - the liar paradox....Tom says
'I am now speaking falsely' referring to the words he is then
uttering.If Tom speaks truly when he says he is speaking falsely, he is
speaking falsely. If he is speaking falsely when this is what he says
is going on,he is speaking truly.So what he says is true if and only if
it is false.
Tom Tom > wow
...........
..........
Sleep did not come easy to Tom Tom that night as he wrestled with his
new found knowledge. He saw himself in a new light, there was something
romantic and noble about existing in an age in which he had become an
anachronism - a crusader appealing to the collective consciousness of
the masses by speaking the truth through telling lies.