a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by liquidm
liquidm  ·  4829 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: New camera system monitors tiny changes in facial expressions to detect lies
"In a real, high-stress situation, we might get an even higher success rate," noted Professor Ugail, who believes he'll eventually be able to detect around 90% of those who are lying, which is similar to the performance of the polygraph.

I thought this was particularly interesting considering how little scientific validity the polygraph test has. This may be an indication that reliably being able to tell if a person is lying may be an impossible feat.





mk  ·  4829 days ago  ·  link  ·  
That stuck out for me too. I think that 90% is bunk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polygraph#2003_National_Academy...

I think that fMRI will probably be more accurate. But lies are subjective things.

easynow  ·  4773 days ago  ·  link  ·  
I sure hope so. Lying gets a bad rap. It has a tremendous amount of positive implications in the right circumstances. If the goal of such technologies/processes is to use "lie detectors" solely to root out criminal intent past and present, then I suppose that is fine. But I can envision a society where we all have devices on us that allow us to detect a "lie". This would be a horribly cruel society.
thenewgreen  ·  4829 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Hollywoods depiction of polygraph testing leads me to believe that they are largely based on fluctuations in heart rate and respiratory rate. Is this right? If so, I think that if I were in a situation that required I take a lie detector test, I imagine my heart would be all over the map, as would my breathing. This has always been a secret fear of mine, to be falsely accused of something heinous and not be able to repudiate it because I failed some lie detector test.
liquidm  ·  4829 days ago  ·  link  ·  
All you need to do to beat the test is to tighten your anal sphincter.

As shown by Penn and Teller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bScv6kfxRyE&feature=playe...

thenewgreen  ·  4829 days ago  ·  link  ·  
"We're doing it -and you're trying it too". Thanks for the trick. I'm gonna practice. -ew.