FOX's "Lie to Me" Spotting Deception Not That Easy

[bijanc]

Lying is about more than "tells" and "microexpressions", it's about language, tone, context, and perceived trust:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... artsliving

[Marlow]

I've been watching the show since it premiered a little bit ago, and now as I talk with some people, I recognize the 'tells and microexpressions' and it's weirding me out. The biggest problem with the show's premise and the 'science' of it is that so many people are such habitual liars that they can even beat polygraphs, because they can believe their own lies. With a little practice you can ruin the machine's baseline by inducing stress in your voice as you tell the truth.

[bijanc]

Lying Eyes

This blogger often decries the "science" of the show:

http://www.eyesforlies.blogspot.com/

As does my mom, who's a retired psychotherapist. The words a person uses are also a very important determinant of veracity- or the lack thereof.

[gh]

wow! I'm crushed! You mean I shouldn't take The Shield as my manual for how real police work goes anymore? And here I thought that's what TV dramas were for.

[tandfman]

The biggest problem with the show's premise and the 'science' of it is that so many people are such habitual liars that they can even beat polygraphs, because they can believe their own lies.

Oscar Hammerstein commented on this phenomenon more than 50 years ago:

The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell
For when I fool
The people I fear
I fool myself as well!

(From The King and I)

[SQUACKEE]

wow! I'm crushed! You mean I shouldn't take The Shield as my manual for how real police work goes anymore? And here I thought that's what TV dramas were for.

There has been only one man and one tv show that captured the real thing and that was Kent McCord in One Adam 12 baby!

[gm]

I can spot a liar immediately... by his/her government ID.

[Marlow]

wow! I'm crushed! You mean I shouldn't take The Shield as my manual for how real police work goes anymore? And here I thought that's what TV dramas were for.

The only one that is remotely realistic is 24!

[jhc68]

Yeah, 24 demonstrates conclusively that getting to the truth is as simple as threatening the lives of the subject's family. It's a simple thing, really. If only we weren't encumbered by all that Bill of Rights stuff!!!