Why is it that when you tell a person that there are 400 billion stars in the sky and he'll believe you tell him a bench is wet and he has to touch it?

Answer 1

Because no one knows the exact amount of stars, so when he believes you, you tell him another lie!

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It's not that he believes you when you tell him there are 400 billion stars in the sky; it's that he has no way to test or verify it, or he already has some ideas about the answer, or both. He has to touch the bench, because he is curious, and he is a scientist and explorer (as are we all, down deep). We test what we are able to test, we learn what is there to be learned.

Answer 2

The statement about the stars is abstract and falls into the category of general knowledge, so it is likely to be taken at face value. On the other hand, the condition of a bench being wet is tactile and tangible, so to confirm its truth, the person feels the need to physically verify it. This reaction is rooted in human nature's tendency to rely on sensory experiences for immediate validation of factual claims.