[TeMPOraL]

Not sure how helpful it is. I wasn't told much lies as a kid. Plenty of wrong things, yes, but those were all common misconceptions (some still widely held by people today, plenty of them present on this Wikipedia list[0]).

Someone close to me, however, was told a lot of such lies in their childhood, and continued to believe them into adulthood. When we met during our university years, I unknowingly debunked a few of those stories during casual conversations, and the person later thanked me and told me that, sadly, this completely shattered the trust they had for their father.

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[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions

[salawat]

If you get in contact with your friend: point out to them that part of being a parent is building up an independent, bullshit tolerant, reality questioning adult.

If none of the things you debunked were serious, then it may have been seed planting for later epiphanies.

I've made very sure that the kiddos I spend time with have a rich mix of truths, half-truths, and jolly equivocations to sort through in their life, and they have no end of fun working their way to proving me wrong.

I consider this an investment in their future development of bullshit filters to keep things running when mine have finally given up the ghost (May it not happen in the forseeable future).

[TedDoesntTalk]

> this completely shattered the trust they had for their father.

Friend of mine felt this way when he learned the truth about Santa Claus. No joke.

[hamburglar]

I’d tell my kids a lot fewer lies if they actually fell for them. Half the fun (and the entire point) is watching them get a more and more sophisticated nose for bullshit.