The New Way to Lie
There's a new way to lie that doesn't yet have a name. To lie this way, you intentionally refuse to inform yourself about a subject, so you can spread misinformation more easily. Similar to a lie by omission, the liar doesn't technically lie, it's an expression of one's perception of the truth. But it remains a lie because it's a manipulation technique meant to mislead and confuse the person being lied to.
The lie doesn't come from lying about facts specifically. When pressed, the liar will say: “Well I don't know for sure, nobody knows!” and repeat their “intuition.” The manipulation comes from a misplaced trust in the liar's intuition. It's a lie because the liar is not appropriately representing how they might actually feel about a subject, especially uncertainty. This is weaponized ignorance and an abuse of trust another might have in the listener's instinct.
I will call this a lie by intuition.
For example, you probably have a crazy uncle who gives his ridiculous political takes at the dinner table. That's one thing, but on the internet, “based” takes tend to go viral, and once this happens a network of cheerleaders and enablers who seek to give it validity will emerge. Not only that, but pundits can intentionally weaponize giving first impressions on any sort of event, or government statement and report it as news, without any deeper research or context. On social media, there's very little accountability for spreading misinformation, so anything goes.
I'm currently reading about Russian disinformation and how it works. It will be my next essay, after I finish writing about how AI has influenced society, which is about halfway done. While I'm not versed enough to go into detail about Russian disinformation yet, a common theme seems to be this particular kind of lie.
Entertainment is a large part of Russian disinformation, and on social media, if you trust a particular influencer, you might be more willing to trust their intuition on a subject. This is something people should pay attention to online, not just as a matter of Russian disinformation, but political influencers in general.
Don't let “vibes” cloud your perspective on reality.
Edit:
Reflecting on it a little more, maybe lie by ignorance is a better term. The comparison to a lie by omission is very accurate, but the omission of information works in the other direction. The liar refuses to inform oneself so they can give an honest (but inaccurate and slanted) opinion about a subject, even if they could research and have a more accurate opinion. We live in the information age after all. This is a common lie that I'm seeing among pundits, especially on social media, where personality is king.