I understand your claim. How do we know which explanation, or whether another explanation, is true? Again, another strong explanation for the change in Bilbo's

I understand your claim. How do we know which explanation, or whether another explanation, is true? Again, another strong explanation for the change in Bilbo's story: It was a demonstration of the corruption caused by the Ring and its effects on hobbits, an effect corroborated by Gollum's story about how Gollum acquired the Ring - all as explained by Gandalf.