A quick way to spot people who are probably telling the truth.
Ask yourself "does this person *want* what they are saying to be true".
If the answer is "no", then they are almost certainly telling the truth, and also much more likely to be correct than otherwise.
Unfortunately it doesn't work nearly as well in reverse: people often say things in support of their favoured positions which they genuinely believe, and they are fairly often right about them.
But people making painful admissions very seldom do so without good reason, which makes it a relatively reliable (although obviously not flawless) test.
I am far more likely to believe a member of the National Anti-Skub League who admits "despite being terrible in other ways, Skub does taste good on toast" than I am a member of the Pro-Skub Alliance who claims "Skub is wonderful and as well as all its other virtues it's delicious on toast!".
= new reply since forum marked as read
"I hate skub!" 
