Micro-Lying
I just watched a documentary on PBS about facial expressions.
A vignette. A researcher tested a lot of people in various occupations as to their ability to detect people that were lying on a video. Across all groups, other than some Secret Service agents, the ability to detect a lie, was "a matter of chance." Fifty-fifty.
Then the researcher talked about the lying micro-clue: a twenty-fifth of a second of wrinkles on a liar's brow. They played a video of a person telling a lie, in slow motion, there were the wrinkles.
They then played that micro-second during former President Clinton's famous "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" press conference, back and forth as he told the lie. Wrinkle, wrinkle, wrinkle.
I suppose you could train your self to see this in real time. A worthwhile skill.
17 comments:
Probably doesn't work so well with blogs, though...
I bet the presidential candidates are queuing up for botox treatments even as I type...
I can usually tell without looking. Just intonation will give it away most times.
Also, with blogs, it becomes evident how full of it someone is when you do the math. People who are full of it tend to not be able to differentiate, and therein lies the beauty of truth; It is self-evident, but only to those who partake in it.
Some sociopaths are such good liars, they train themselves to actually believe something is true, and can even pass polygraph tests! Scary.
You're so right, Jlee. For some people, deception is an art form unto itself. :)
Cute hat, BTW. ;)
Maybe because it's late, or because I'm an untrusting kind of woman, but people will lie wrinkle free, staring you in the face, never fidgeting, not looking nervously, nor sweating profusely.
It's in our nature to lie and we have or will perfect any method to make us appear more truthful.
As for bloggers being completely honest, why would we think we can trust anyone, a blgger, a loved one or a child?
Perhaps I'll just get some sleep. I'm cranky.
Honestly? I find I am in the minority, but I see no use in lying. It takes up too much energy. My frustration in others lying, is that they are wasting their time, more than anything else.
And trusting someone who lies, well, that has to happen when it's such a popular coping method. It's just not blind trust is all.
I guess that if a lawyer had the power to find out if someone was lying....
there wouldn't ever be a need for lawyers?
crinkle, crinkle, crinkle
Having written the post, my test for lying is, only a sociopath can tell the same lie, getting it right, three times.
Being a lawyer in a deposition, I have the advantage of being able to attack veracity from several directions over a period of time.
Ah, the one with John Cleese.
I gather I have two Anons. To the second Anon, yep that one.
I love Monte Python. Which skit are you talking about?
~~~~ I never lie.
To the last Anon, the reference isn't to Monty Python; rather, it's a PBS special, I think, that had John Cleese as the host.
Cathy, for some reason you last comment took a long time to show up. Never lie?
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