Lie Position: Deception: Dying And Lie Detection

The podcast that I listened to, entitled Deception, touched on several different topics surrounding the idea of lying and lie detection. Some of these topics included studying the face in order to recognize micro-expressions that indicate a certain emotion, the story of one con artist and the way she lied to her victims, the scientific brain make-up of a liar, and the way people lie to themselves.

One professional on the show defined lying as “a deliberate choice to mislead a target without any notification.” This is very interesting to me because it leads me to consider the possibility that when someone says something that is not true, it might not always be considered a lie or intended as a lie. If the person believes that what they are

He described the way our faces contort according to emotions and provided a few ways to detect a lie based on small almost imperceptible muscle movements. One such strategy includes looking out for certain muscle movements that are often involuntary but are present when a person is genuinely angry or joyful etc. These reliable muscles will often be absent when a person feigns an emotion. One of the hosts on the podcasts wondered if some sort of universal giveaway sign that occurs in everyone exists, to which the expert replied that there is not. Even if it is true, that there is not one sign that is indicates deceit in everyone, it makes me wonder if each individual has their own unique tell that is consistent when they lie. Aside from facial expressions can body language give away a liar? Could a regular person, not a professional, become equipped to catch a liar based on muscle and body movements? If we could, I think that that would be an extremely useful skill to

People lie to themselves for various reasons; most often it is due to conflicting thoughts that occur simultaneously. For example a man sees all the signs that his wife is cheating on him, but remains convinced that she is faithful despite what his instincts and other evidence tells him. In this instance he lies to himself to avoid an unpleasant truth. However, lying oneself does not always have to be negative. Sometimes a “mind over matter” approach can be beneficial. The podcast addresses track athletes who say they will encourage themselves before a race, saying things such as “you are the best” or “I am a winner.” These positive things that are not necessarily truths at the time can prove to make a difference in performance as well as happiness. How can you know when lying to yourself will help or hurt? I think you must be aware of whether you are in denial of something some part of your consciousness knows to be true or simply encouraging