The necessity of the verbal construct "I think X" logically suggests that all the other times someone is lying. Which isn't the case, I just find the implication funny.
People have a weird relationship with confidence. Because most people can't assess facts for themselves (reality is horrible, complex and it is good strategy to let someone else figure it out) they rely on the speaker's confidence to gauge how true something is. I guess is there is some sort of follow-up social system to punish people when their expressed confidence is out of line with what the expert consensus is, treating them as though they were exposed liars.
So on the one hand I personally prefer your approach - it is easier just to add a mental "I think" in front of everything everyone says because that is the real situation. And on the other don't expect the flowery language to go away because there is a social game playing out.
People have a weird relationship with confidence. Because most people can't assess facts for themselves (reality is horrible, complex and it is good strategy to let someone else figure it out) they rely on the speaker's confidence to gauge how true something is. I guess is there is some sort of follow-up social system to punish people when their expressed confidence is out of line with what the expert consensus is, treating them as though they were exposed liars.
So on the one hand I personally prefer your approach - it is easier just to add a mental "I think" in front of everything everyone says because that is the real situation. And on the other don't expect the flowery language to go away because there is a social game playing out.